With 26 new COVID-19 positive cases detected on Saturday, the total number of cases in the State has now reached 500.
As many as 13 cases have been reported in Bengaluru Urban and of them, nine are from the labour colony at Hongasandra ward and the contacts of P-419 [a 54-year-old migrant labourer from the same colony who tested positive earlier this week]. The total number of positive cases in that cluster alone now stands at 30. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has now sealed the area.
A journalist of a Kannada television channel also tested positive on Saturday. He had visited one of the containment zones marked by the BBMP. Following this, 27 journalists, who are his primary contacts, have been quarantined in a hotel.
“Although most of them have undergone tests for COVID-19, we will conduct another test on the 12th day of their quarantine,” said a Health Department official.
Saturday also saw nine cases from Belagavi, and one each from Dakshina Kannada, Chickballapur, Mandya and Mysuru.
The department believes that the lockdown has helped contain the number of cases. “The number of tests we are conducting is also increasing and we want to ensure that we detect all the positive cases and take suitable measures to prevent the transmission,” said the official.
The State on Saturday also kick-started trials for convalescent plasma therapy, where plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 is infused in those who have tested positive for the infection and are in a critical condition.
