Coronavirus: Confirmation of Bengaluru's first COVID-19 patient leaked by school email

The confirmation of the first positive case of Covid-19 in Bengaluru came a few hours after the news was leaked through an internal e-mail of a school.

The email was sent to the school principal by a parent, whose husband tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

Since Monday morning, the screenshot of the e-mail by the school principal had gone viral, appealing to teachers to stay calm, even as the parent self-reported about the infection in the family while seeking leave for her child.

Soon, the screenshot was shared in various groups on social media and officials of the state government were caught off-guard.

The e-mail also referred to the panic among the teachers about a ‘known fact that one parent’ from an apartment located near the school ‘has tested positive for
coronavirus’.

By then, hundreds of parents started calling up the principal, who informed the BEO.

The school declared a holiday by 12.30 pm.

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When contacted, the principal told DH that she was not aware whether the parent had tested positive.

“I received an email from the parent on Sunday, seeking leave for her child. In the mail, she mentioned that her husband had recently returned from overseas had flu-like symptoms.

“I immediately informed the education department officials and also sent an internal communication to our teachers as many of them live in the same apartment as the suspect parent,” she said.

However, teachers and other parents started panicking.

Meanwhile, a major consulting firm sent home about 10 employees who lived in the same apartment.

It was not clear how the firm got news of the situation.