Four patients tested positive for coronavirus in Bengaluru, tweeted Health Minister B Sriramulu on Tuesday morning. One of these cases is the techie who returned from USA to Bengaluru on March 1 and has been admitted in the isolation unit of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases.
Health department sources confirmed that the wife and daughter of the techie are the other two confirmed cases. The fourth case is another techie who returned from US and landed in Bengaluru International Airport.
"The family members of the patients are being kept in isolation and their health is being monitored. I urge citizens to take precautions and cooperate in preventing the spread of infection," Sriramulu said in the tweet.
In a press release, the Indian Council for Medical Research said that in the past 24 hours, there has been one positive case from Kerala, two from Pune and three from Bengaluru. The state health department officials and RGICD doctors are either not responding to calls or are refusing to comment on the matter until 6 pm on Tuesday.
Meanwhile the man, who was under coronavirus quarantine at a district hospital in Mangaluru following his arrival from Dubai, and later left the premises, has been re-admitted to the facility after health department officials convinced him of the Centre's instructions.
After a day of high drama, the passenger, who arrived at the International Airport here on Sunday night with a high fever, was admitted to the isolation ward of Wenlock hospital but left after arguing with the staff that he would take treatment at a private facility.
However, he was later traced to his home on Monday night after health department officials informed the police. After the district administration's intervention, he agreed to co-operate with the treatment.
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said that the patient's samples have been collected and sent to a testing centre in Bengaluru.
She said that if passengers were not willing to be screened, they would be counselled first and then shifted to an isolation ward. "If they refuse to cooperate, they would have to be taken forcefully," she said.