COVID-19: Kalaburagi fruit vendor becomes fifth casualty in Karnataka

Second COVID-19 death in Kalaburagi district, which reported India's first death

38-bengaluru [File] People buying vegetables in Bengaluru | Bhanu Prakash Chandra

With the death of a 65-year-old fruit vendor (P177) in Kalaburagi on Wednesday, the COVID-19 casualty has risen to five in Karnataka. Kalaburagi has nine confirmed COVID-19 positive cases so far. 

This is the second COVID-19 death in Kalaburagi district, which had reported India's first death on March 11. 

While the first case was of a 76-year-old man who had a travel history to Saudi Arabia, the second death is a cause of concern to the district authorities as he had no travel or contact history.  

According to sources,  P177 was admitted to a private hospital in Kalaburagi in the first week of April with symptoms like fever and breathing difficulty. Later, he was shifted to ESI hospital,  where he breathed his last.  

Meanwhile, the residential locality where the deceased lived has been declared as a containment zone and the authorities have urged people who purchased fruits and vegetables from the infected person to show up at the government testing facility.  The private hospital has been closed down and the doctor and nurses who treated the patient for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) are kept under home quarantine.

With the total number of confirmed cases in the state touching 181, the health department is also worried about a few cases where asymptomatic patients have tested positive. 

The state is hoping to ramp up testing and contact tracing for early detection and effective containment of the deadly virus.