Kodagu records first positive case of COVID-19

A 35-year old person who had returned to Kodagu from Dubai recently, has been tested positive for COVID-19. This is the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Kodagu district.

“Medical reports on the laboratory investigation received on Thursday, have confirmed that the person is infected with coronavirus”, Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy briefed reporters on Thursday.

After returning from Dubai, he had come to his house in Kuttimotte in Kondangeri in Virajpet taluk on March 15. The person had been subjected to medical quarantine in the isolated ward at the district government hospital in Madikeri, since March 17.

The DC stated that the infected person’s travel history has been obtained and the flight he traveled from Dubai to Bengaluru and the bus he traveled from Bengaluru to Mangaluru, have been tracked. Necessary measures have been taken to disinfect the vehicles. The DC's of the respective districts have been informed for necessary action at the places where the infected person had taken pit-stops for refreshments.

As the person has stayed in his house for a day, his family members are subjected to keen observation and special precautions are taken in his native place. The area around his house in the radius of 500 meters has been declared as a prohibitory area and people in the surrounding regions have been quarantined. Shops and other establishments have been closed, Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy said.

Kodagu DC has also ordered the closure of Homestays and resorts in the entire Kodagu district. However, emergency services will remain.

Medical reports of three other suspected cases are awaited. 180 people who have returned from foreign countries to Kodagu have been home quarantined. Four foreign tourists have been quarantined in two separate resorts. The capacity of beds in the isolation ward in Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences has been increased to 150.

Meanwhile, people had a panic attack in Napoklu after birds including crows were found dead in the region all of a sudden. Cases of bird flu were reported in Kodagu recently.