18 new coronavirus cases in Karnataka; seven from Mysuru

Karnataka reported 18 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the largest spike yet in a single day, taking the state’s tally to 146.

Out of the 18 cases, seven are from Mysuru, four from Bengaluru, two from Dakshina Kannada, two from Bagalkot, one each from Udupi and Hosapete. One patient, who is from Kochi, had gone to Germany and is presently quarantined in Bengaluru.

Four of the seven cases from Mysuru involve people who travelled to Delhi in January, much before the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the national capital.

The four patients, residents of Shahdara in Delhi, arrived in Bengaluru’s Yeshwantpur on January 27.

“They were a group of 11 who arrived in the city and then travelled to Mysuru. When the Tablighi Jamaat congregation contact tracing happened, they too were traced and quarantined in Mysuru. When their samples were taken, they tested positive,” said an IAS officer involved in contact tracing.

Asked if they had possibly contracted the infection at the quarantine facility in Mysuru, where they were housed with COVID-19 suspected cases, the official said he cannot jump to conclusions.

“Somebody came to pick them up in Bengaluru. We are yet to trace that person,” he said. There are two other patients in Mysuru but the department has no details about them. “Detailed investigation is under way,” the official said.

Two people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi tested positive on Saturday. “Out of 144 COVID-19 cases in the state, 16 got infected at the Jamaat,” said S Suresh Kumar, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, who is the COVID-19 spokesperson in the state.

Among the eight other cases, Patient 129 is a 21-year-old from Bengaluru who worked for P58. P130 is a 57-year-old from the city who is P58’s father. P131 is the son of P101.

“P101’s daughter-in-law had gone abroad. But she has tested negative,” Kumar said. P132 returned from Dubai on March 17. P133 is from Kochi who had gone to Germany. With this, Bengaluru Urban now has 55 cases, Mysuru 28, Dakshina Kannada 12 and Bidar 10.