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Belagavi, Feb 10: In comments that raised eyebrows, Ramesh Jarkiholi, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP and who took oath as minister last week, said his brother Satish has a bright future. The two siblings have rarely seen eye-to-eye — at least in public — in recent times.

He also trained his gun on Congress leader DK Shivakumar, sarcastically thanking the Congress MLA for his meteoric rise. “Had Shivakumar not stood against me, I would not have emerged as a tall leader in the state. I must thank him,” Ramesh said.

The Gokak MLA said Satish of the Congress, the most politically-savvy of the five Jarkiholi siblings, would reach “the top” in his political career. However, he advised him “to inculcate patience and adopt strategies”. “He should make his moves at the right time as timing is very important in politics,” Ramesh said.

He also urged Satish to keep his supporters happy. “Many of his followers are disappointed with his leadership because he does not extend a helping hand to his own people. In the present political climate, people do not endorse a leader who only talks about Buddha and Basava,” Ramesh said.

Ramesh took a dig at Lakan, the youngest sibling, saying, “Lakan speaks ill about me most of the time. He does not understand much. But we brothers are one when it comes to family. We are united when it comes to family matters, but when it comes to politics, we are at loggerheads.”

Bengaluru, Mar 25: The COVID-19 count in Karnataka went up by 10 on Wednesday, reaching 51. The 10 new positives included two girls aged seven and nine who contracted the infection from their father.

The 34-year-old man had returned from Amsterdam on March 19 and tested positive as the 17th confirmed case in Karnataka.

Though his family were kept in isolation and under quarantine in their house, the children developed a cold. They were confirmed for COVID-19 infection while their mother is still negative.

The government remained tightlipped over whether or not a 70-year-old woman from Gouribidanuru who was put under house quarantine and died on Wednesday morning, tested positive for COVID-19. Government officials would neither confirm nor deny anything on the results of tests on the woman.

This evening’s bulletin issued by the Karnataka health department continued to indicate the strong correlation of coronavirus infection and foreign travel.

Among the positive cases identified today were

A 63-year-old Bengaluru man and his 59-year-old wife, with a history of travel to Brazil and Argentina.
Two 26-year-old men with a history of travel to Spain and arrived back in Bengaluru via Dubai.
Two others, a 63-year-old woman and her 69-year-old husband, had a history of travel to Athens and London.
A 34-year-old man, a resident of Udupi, who returned from Dubai
A 37-year old woman, a resident of Chitradurga, with a history of travel to Guyana and arrived back in Bengaluru via Delhi
Speaking to the media, medical education minister K Sudhakar said health officials were apprehensive the positives may go up tonight.

Of the corona positive cases detected in Karnataka so far, three have been discharged after quarantine, and 47 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals in a stable condition. There has been one fatality.

As per a recommendation by the high-level health committee, the government has decided to convert the Bowring Hospital into a coronavirus treatment hospital facility along with the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital for Chest Diseases and Victoria Hospital. 

“The number of positive cases are growing at an alarming rate and the government needs more treatment facilities. The government is for burning of COVID-19 death cases. However, due to some religious practices, it has been decided they would be buried in 8 ft deep pits,'' Dr Sudhakar said.