5 more Tablighis test positive in Karnataka

Bengaluru, April 5 (IANS) Five more Tablighi Jamaat members, including three women, who attended the congregation in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin area in March and returned to Karnataka, tested coronavirus positive, an official said on Sunday.

“Of the 5 Tablighis, four, including three women are from Raibagh in the state’s northwest Belagavi district and one (male) is from Ballari in the northern region,” the official said in a statement.

All the 5 Tablighis returned to the state on March 20 after attending the congregation for 6 days from March 13-18.

Raibagh is 590 km northwest of Bengaluru and Ballari is 330 km north of the state capital.

Earlier, 13 Tablighis, including 10 at Bidar in the state’s northern region tested positive on return and are under treatment at the designated state-run hospitals for the Covid infection.

Of the reported 391 Tablighi returnees to the state, about 200 were tested earlier and 187 of them turned negative.

“With 5 more testing positive, 18 Tablighi returnees from the state are under treatment for the virus,” the official said.

With 7 more cases, including a Dubai-returned couple from Bengaluru testing positive earlier in the day, the number of Covid-hit patients in the southern state rose to 151 from 144 till Saturday.

Of the total cases, 12 were discharged on recovery, while 4 died, including an old Tablighi returnee at Sira in Tumakuru district, about 70 km northwest of Bengaluru, last week.

Out of 135 cases, 132 Covid positive patients, including 1 pregnant woman are in isolation at designated hospitals and stable, while 3 are in ICU, with one on oxygen and two on ventilators.

“The couple — husband, 68, and wife, 62, with a travel history returned from Dubai on March 22, and tested positive for the virus,” said the official.

The duo was quarantined in Akash hospital at Devanahalli on the city’s northern outskirts and near the international airport soon after arrival.

“The couple was kept in isolation at the hospital, they remained asymptomatic till Saturday but displayed the Covid-19 symptoms on Sunday,” added the official.

–IANS

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