Karnataka agriculture minister B C Patil tests Covid-19 positive

Agriculture Minister BC Patil tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday. Earlier in the day, his wife, brother-in-law and five staff at his Hirekerur residence had tested positive for the virus.

"According to the report I received now, I have tested positive for Covid-19. I will be in home quarantine at my Bengaluru residence.

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Five staff members who had accompanied me during a recent visit to Koppal are also positive," he said in a tweet.

He urged all primary and secondary contacts who met him at Koppal and Davanagere, to get tested for Covid-19 in case of any symptoms.

Earlier in the day, he tweeted that his wife, brother-in-law and five staff at his Hirekerur residence tested positive. "They were shifted to dedicated Covid care centres," he said.

It can be recalled that Patil had to quarantine for a week between July 12-17, after one of his relatives has tested positive. He had home quarantined at Hirekerur then.

Patil is the third minister of the state cabinet to be infected by the novel coronavirus after Tourism Minister CT Ravi and Forest Minister Anand Singh.