The Karnataka government was on tenterhooks on Wednesday, mounting efforts to track over 700 people among the more than 1,500 from the state who might have attended the religious congregation of Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi while nine new COVID-19 cases were confirmed.
With the latest cases, the total number of coronavirus afflicted patients in the state rose to 110, the Health department said.
Of the 1,500, the government had been able to locate 800 people and screen them, Additional Chief Secretary Health and Family Welfare department Jawaid Akhtar said.
Earlier in the day, state ministers said at least 342 people from the state had returned after attending the meeting Nizamuddin in Delhi, which has turned out to be the hotbed of COVID-19 spread in the country, and of them 200 have been quarantined.
"We have got a list of 1,500 people in three installments from the Centre last night about people who might have attended the congregation, we are in the process of identifying them. In one day we have been able to search and screem 800 people. Out of which swab samples have been collected from 143 people," Akhtar said.
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Speaking to reporters through video conference, he said, the government's aim was to complete the process of identifying and searching for remaining people in the list and screen them by tomorrow.
The breakup on how many among them were foreigners would be shared on Thursday, he said adding those identified so far included people from different parts of the state and most of them were under government mass quarantine.
As many as 62 foreign nationals who attended the event have also returned to Karnataka and 50 of them had been quarantined while 12 others had left for their nations earlier, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Health Minister B Sriramulu maintained.
Meanwhile, a health department bulletin said till date a total of 110 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state which includes three deaths and nine discharges.
Out of 98 active cases, 95 infected patients (including 1 pregnant woman) are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while three are in ICU (one on oxygen and two on ventilators).
Four of the new cases detected since last evening included two men, aged 37 and 27, who are residents of Nanjangud in Mysuru.
According to preliminary investigation, they were said to be working in the same pharmaceutical company, where the patient who tested positive last month despite no travel or contact history was working.
Among the 110 positive cases, 48 were reported from Bengaluru, 19 from Mysuru, nine each from Chikkaballapura and Dakshina Kannada, eight from Uttara Kannada, four from Kalaburgai, three each from Davangere, Udupi and Ballari, two from Tumakuru, and one each from Kodagu and Dharwad.
Those discharged include eight patients from Bengaluru and one from Kalaburagi; and among those dead are one each are reported from Kalaburgari, Bengaluru and Tumakuru.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday announced he has donated his annual salary of Rs 24.10 lakh to the "Chief Minister's Relief Fund COVID-19."
He also said a slew of measures would be implemented to ensure uninterrupted supply of food grains, vegetables and milk to the people during the lockdown.
The decisions include protecting the interests of farmers and milk producers.
"We have decided to supply milk free of cost to the poor till April 14 and the district administrations have been entrusted with making arrangements for it," he said at a press briefing after chairing a meeting of the group of ministers on COVID-19.
Meanwhile, in the light of current pandemic of COVID- 19, the state government has directed all the medical colleges in the state to work in coordination with respective district authorities.
It was further stated to utilise the services of Community Medicine Faculty of all medical colleges for community-based activities and for planning at District and Taluka level as part of efforts to check COVID-19.
The state government has issued a circular for establishment of Fever Clinics and Movement, protocol for suspect cases of COVID-19 at all districts as per local needs.
Such clinics had already started functioning in the city corporation area as a part of contingency plan.
A report from Mangaluru said As on Wednesday, 38,373 people have been screened in the district and 5,875 were under home quarantine, while 27 others at the ESI hospital there.
In Udupi, the TMA Pai hospital has begun functioning as the dedicated COVID-19 hospital and all the three positive patients in the district have been shifted to the hospital, officials said.
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