Karnataka Govt staffer at Vikasa Soudha tests coronavirus positive

A government employee at the Vikasa Soudha turned positive for COVID-19 sending health officials scrambling to investigate on Tuesday evening. According to Dr Lokesh M, Special Commissioner, Bengaluru Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the case is a 42-year-old stenographer working at the Food and Civil Supplies Department secretariat located at the ground floor of Vikasa Soudha.

"She is a resident of Ullal, Kengeri and began to exhibit symptoms of fever and decided to get herself tested. Her test results came positive today," he said, adding that the patient was currently at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital and was in stable condition.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

Dr Siddapaji, BBMP East Zone health officer said she had reportedly complained to the on-staff doctor at the Vikasa Soudha of fever on June 8. Another BBMP source said there is suspicion that she contracted the infection from external sources. In the meantime, the BBMP said it has identified 14 primary contacts at the Vikasa Soudha.

"Contact tracing is under way at her home and neighbourhood," Dr Lokesh said. The Special Commissioner specified that none of the primary contacts is a high-ranking official. "It appears that she did not have contact with VIPs," he said.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

BBMP officers have sealed the room where the stenographer worked, although Dr Lokesh specified that the primary focus was on the patient’s home address, where a containment zone will be set up. Dr Vijendra Bilaguli, Chief Health Officer, BBMP said there would be no containment zone at the Vikasa Soudha. "We will start sanitisation measures within the room on Wednesday," he said.

A senior officer in the Palike specified that this was in line with the standard operating procedure for government buildings. "On June 8, a private secretary of an Additional Commissioner at the Commercial Tax Office tested positive. Our protocols were much the same: sanitisation of the office space," he said.

The primary contacts from Vikasa Soudha have been quarantined at a private hotel in Shivajinagar. Incidentally, it is the same hotel where a 34-year-old housekeeper contracted Covid-19 on May 5, before inadvertently spreading the virus to 45 others in his residency building in Shivajinagar.