Minister Sudhakar's father, cook test positive

Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar’s father, cook and a domestic help tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday. His father, Keshava Reddy, 82, is a former Chikkaballapur Zilla Panchayat president.

In a tweet the minister said, “My father’s Covid-19 test has come out positive. Anxiously waiting for reports of other family members. Praying for speedy recovery of my father.” In an earlier tweet, the minister had mentioned, “My 82-year-old father has been admitted in hospital with complaints of fever and cough.”

His father is said to have contracted the virus after coming in contact with their domestic help who was working in their Sadashivanagar house.

The cook is 40 years old and the domestic help is 26 years old. Eight people, including the security personnel and the family members, have been home quarantined. While his father is in a private hospital, the two staffers are in Victoria Hospital.

The minister’s team members said that he, his wife and two children have been home quarantined. “Dr Sudhakar has no home office,” they said.

Asked if the minister’s team members were tested for Covid, they said, “We are tested every 15 days because of Sudhakar’s work as medical education minister and as Covid incharge minister. We have been tested five times till now and have tested negative.”

This is the first time for a Karnataka politician to have been exposed to the virus at such close quarters.

Earlier, the cameraperson of a Kannada news channel tested positive for the virus and had come in contact with three ministers: Sudhakar, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai. They had quarantined themselves at home for 14 days and had tested negative.