Dubai flyer on way to Kerala is Mysuru’s 2nd Covid-19 patient

MYSURU: Two days after a Dubai returnee tested positive for Covid-19, another flyer from Dubai on way to Kerala became the district’s second patient on Monday.
Authorities said the patient landed in Bengaluru in the early hours of Sunday and was returning home via Mysuru when he developed uneasiness. He briefly stayed with a friend in the city before reporting himself at KR Hospital on Sunday with mild fever.“He has been kept in the isolation ward. The confirmatory coronavirus-positive report came on Monday. He is stable,” said deputy commissioner Abhiram G Sankar.
The DC said the patient is estimated to have met a dozen people from the time he landed to his admission in hospital. He travelled from Dubai to Bengaluru on the last permitted flight on March 21. Arriving at Kempegowda International Airport at 2.50am on March 22, he took a cab to Mysuru. “He did not have any flu-like symptoms during screening at Bengaluru airport,” the deputy commissioner said. He stopped for tea at Kengeri and reached Mysuru at 8.30am. Feeling uneasy, he stopped at a friend’s place in Meena Bazaar and around 1pm, rode a bike with his friend to hospital.
The DC said details of the patient’s movements are being collected and all contacts being traced. The first patient, who is also in isolation at KR Hospital, continues to be stable, he said.
District hospital designated for Covid-19
The Mysuru District Hospital on KRS Road, which was inaugurated recently and is yet to start functioning, will be the Covid-19 hospital here. A 150-bed coronavirus unit has been created and from Tuesday, all screening, testing and isolation for Covid-19 will be done there. This should cut down on the congestion at KR Hospital, authorities said.
Deputy commissioner Abhiram G Sankar said the district was well-equipped to deal with any emergency. “We have been preparing an inventory of all private hospitals and a meeting will be held with medical experts to prepare a list of doctors, nursing staff and paramedical staff and beds available for the pandemic in Mysuru,” he said.
The district administration has also identified a private hospital on Hunsur Road as the second Covid-19 centre, should the need arise for additional beds to isolate patients. “The hospital is defunct and we have decided to put it to use in case of an emergency,” the DC said.