Wife of virus-affected techie from Bengaluru did not flee to Agra: Karnataka govt
Premium- Karnataka govt says she did not step out of Bengaluru airport and went to Agra via Delhi on 8 March and hence it can't be said that she fled from Bengaluru
- Karnataka health officials said that they have not been informed officially if the woman has tested positive or not
Bengaluru: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K.Sudhakar on Saturday said that the software professional who tested positive for novel coronavirus (Covid-19) did not reveal that his wife left from Bengaluru to Agra, and not from Mumbai as earlier stated.
The revelation comes days after the Karnataka health department stated that the newly married couple, with a travel history from Greece, landed in Mumbai on 6 March and that only the 26-year-old husband came to Bengaluru, where he works with Google Inc.
Sudhakar said that the couple reached Bengaluru airport at 9.45 pm and that the wife did not leave the airport and departed to Delhi at 1.40 am the next day and reached at 4.25 am.
From there, she took the 8.10 am Gatimaan Express train to Agra.
The conflicting versions highlights the lapses in the health department that may have endangered more lives as the lady has since tested positive for Covid-19, according to a report by the Times of India.
Her family has also been placed under quarantine and the department is tracking down the people she may have come in contact during her five-hour wait at the airport, also during her flight to Delhi and train to Agra, apart from interactions with family members.
Karnataka health officials said that they have not been informed officially if the woman has tested positive or not.
"It is not correct on their part to have done this morally and legally," Sudhakar said.
According to new regulations, the couple can be penalised. Sudhakar, however, said that all this would be determined only after the infected patients recover.
They added that since she left from the airport, it cannot be classified that she fled.
The state government also clarified that there were no lapses on it's part in the handling of
the Kalaburagi case in which a 76-year-old died and became the first casualty of the deadly virus in India.
On Saturday, Mint reported that the delay in announcing the cause of death and possible procedural lapses may have endangered more lives in two cities of two states.
Mohammed Hussain Siddiq, with a travel history to Saudi Arabia, died on 10 March. The family of Siddiq have blamed the health department for not making information available, which could have potentially saved Siddiq's life.
