Kodagu DC asks hotels, home stays, resorts, dormitories to shut till Mar. 31

Madikeri, Bengaluru: One person tested positive for COVID-19 in Kodagu this morning, taking the tally of confirmed cases in the State to 15. Health Minister B. Sriramulu, in a post on Twitter said, the State’s 15th patient is from Kodagu district and the patient had a history of travel to Saudi Arabia.

“Today, a person from Kodagu has tested positive for COVID-19. This person had returned from Saudi Arabia. This person has been placed in isolation at a medical facility and is under observation. This is Karnataka’s 15th case,” Sriramulu posted in Kannada on Twitter. 

Kodagu DC Annies Kanmani Joy told reporters that the patient was 35 years old and the patient hails from Madikeri Taluk. His tests were conducted at Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory in Mysuru and the results showed positive.

District Administration sources said that the person had returned from Abu Dhabi via Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru on Mar. 16 when the virus spread was at its peak in Middle East. The patient’s relatives have now been kept under observation and isolation as there are strong chances of them being infected.

Cases in Karnataka were so far limited to Bengaluru and Kalaburagi. The State Government has extended its order on closure of malls, theatres and night clubs as well as other places of mass gatherings till the end of the month. The Government has also decided to stamp the upper palm of people who have returned from abroad.

Some passengers placed under home quarantine were not following instructions and “Therefore, it has been decided to stamp the back of palm of left hand of such passengers with a specially designed stamp which will indicate the last day of quarantine. This will be done using indelible ink,” the Minister said and also tweeted the same.

Following a patient testing positive in Kodagu, Kodagu DC Annies Kanmani Joy has declared stringent measures under Section 144 (general) where resorts, home stays and hotels have been asked not to take new bookings. 

“A ban has been issued till Mar. 31 on guests, tourists and local people staying in all hotels including star hotels, resorts, hotel-cum-lodges, home stays, resorts, choultries and dormitories. These places have been asked to close down until further orders,” the DC’s order said.