SP, journos among several injured as Dalits temple entry row turns violent

Kozhikode, May 21: Six employees of a private clinic here and a taxi driver have been put on mandatory 14 days quarantine as a lady gynaecologist running the dispensary tested positive for COVID-19 in Bengaluru.

District Medical Officer Dr V Jayashree said the gynaecologist had returned to Karnataka a fortnight ago and tested positive while she was on quarantine there. Six staff members of the clinic at nearby Thamarassery and the taxi driver who dropped her inBengaluruon May 5 have been asked to go on quarantine, she said.

Patients had visited the clinic, belonging to the gynaecologist and her doctor husband, till April-end. Sources said the district administration is trying to figure out thecontacts of the gynaecologist, including pregnant women, for being quarantined.

Udupi, May 16: Close on the heels of six Covid-19 cases being detected in a little over 24 hours, Udupi recorded its first death of a Covid-19 patient. The victim is a 54-year-old man from Mumbai, who died due to a heart attack on Thursday. His reports came back on Saturday, and confirmed that he had Covid-19. The Udupi district administration has arranged to carry out his last rites as per government designated guidelines for Covid-19 victims.

A medical bulletin issued by the superintendent of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, stated that the patient was admitted due to a heart-related issue on May 13.

Some members on the team that treated the patient have been quarantined. The hospital’s emergency department will operate as usual, and the outpatient department will operate as usual from 8.30am to 1pm, following government guidelines, the bulletin said. Deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha said that since the patient was from Mumbai, the authorities collected his swab sample for testing, as a precautionary measure.

The man suffered from chest pain, and was initially taken to the taluk hospital at Kundapur from where he was shifted to Kasturba Hospital, due to the seriousness of his condition. The doctors operated on him on May 13, and he suffered a severe heart attack on May 14 and died, the DC said. “Three hospital staff without PPE kits, who attended to the patient, have been quarantined,” the DC said, adding that the operating doctors and nurses had worn PPE kits.

In addition, 5 others who travelled with the person from Mumbai and 57 people with him at the Kundapur isolation centre, have been designated as primary contacts, and 38 others as secondary contacts, and quarantined. The staff at Kundapur taluk hospital too had taken precautions in handling the patient, the DC said. Udupi presently has six active cases, including a 1-year-old child and 5 others, all of whom returned from Dubai on May 12.