Karnataka Governor tests negative after recent meeting with CM
Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala has tested negative for coronavirus, three days after meeting Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa who was diagnosed positive on Sunday, an official said on Monday.
“The Governor has undergone a corona antigen test and tested negative,” said a communique from the Raj Bhavan.
The Chief Minister, along with Home Minister Basavaraju Bommai, had called on the Governor last week to discuss the Covid situation in the state and measures being taken to contain the pandemic spread.
“The Governor’s ADC and Personal Secretary Tejas Bhatti have also undergone antigen tests, and were found to be negative,” the communique said.
Yediyurappa, 77, and daughter B.Y. Padmavati who also tested positive, are under treatment at a private hospital though they are asymptomatic with mild symptoms.
“The Chief Minister is doing fine and spoke with the hospital staff. He also held an informal meeting with the team of doctors and nurses treating him at breakfast and enquired about their work conditions and the pressure they have been under since the pandemic broke out in March,” an official said.
Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar, who is himself a medical practitioner, said: “The Chief Minister has a mild cough while his chest and respiratory system are normal.”
As the minister has been meeting Yediyurappa regularly in connection with the Covid crisis management in the state, he gave his swab sample for the test and will be in home quarantine.
Sudhakar had tested negative after his father, wife and daughter tested positive on June 22-23 and had isolated himself for over a week at home in the city.
Though the Chief Minister was mostly at his official residence since Friday, National Education Policy draft committee chairman K. Kasturirangan called on him that day.
The Chief Minister had also been to the Electronics City earlier that day to inaugurate the new building of the Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (Keonics), where he came in contact with many people though he wore a mask and maintained physical distancing.
Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan and other officials had accompanied him.
On July 30, the Chief Minister flagged off the tunnel boring machine for the second phase of the metro rail project at the city centre, where people were present in large numbers.
Meanwhile, best wishes and “get well soon” poured from all over the country for the his quick recovery.
Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Ashwath Narayan, Bengaluru Mayor M. Goutham Kumar and others wished Yediyurappa a speedy recovery.
Yediyurappa is the fourth minister in the state to test coronavirus positive after Forest Minister Anand Singh, Tourism Minister C.T. Ravi and Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil last month.