Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu tests positive for COVID-19

Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Sunday (August 9) said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been hospitalised in Bengaluru.

“Following fever, I got myself tested and found to be infected by coronavirus,” Sriramulu tweeted on Sunday.

ಇಂದು ಜ್ವರ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿದಾಗ ಕೊರೊನ ಪಾಸಿಟಿವ್ ಬಂದಿದೆ.

ಮಾನ್ಯ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳ ನೇತೃತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ನನ್ನ ಇಲಾಖೆ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಇಲಾಖೆಗಳೂ ಜೀವದ ಹಂಗು ತೊರೆದು ಮಹಾಮಾರಿಯ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಹಗಲಿರುಳೂ ಶ್ರಮಿಸುತ್ತಿವೆ.1/3

— B Sriramulu (@sriramulubjp) August 9, 2020

He is said to have contracted the disease since he had travelled across all 30 districts in the state.

“From the time of Corona’s appearance, I have had the opportunity to visit the 30 districts and work in harmony with the government’s desire to treat people well. It is in this backdrop that I am going to be hospitalised and treated,” he said in a series of tweets in Kannada.

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ಆದಷ್ಟೂ ಬೇಗ ಗುಣಮುಖನಾಗಿ ಸಂಕಷ್ಟ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಜನಸೇವೆ ಮಾಡಲು ಶಕ್ತಿ ಕೊಡುವಂತೆ ಭಗವಂತನಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ.

ಇತ್ತೀಚಿಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಸಂಪರ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಮುನ್ನೆಚ್ಚರಿಕೆ ಕ್ರಮ ವಹಿಸಲು ಕೋರುತ್ತೇನೆ.

— B Sriramulu (@sriramulubjp) August 9, 2020

“All those who have been in contact with me recently have been requested to take precautionary measures,” he added.

He has been admitted to the Government Bowring hospital in the city for treatment.

The Minister said he is praying to God to heal him soon so that he can get back to public work at the earliest.

Sriramulu is the fifth minister in Karnataka to have tested positive for the virus infection.

Prior to him, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Forest Minister Anand Singh, Tourism Minister C T Ravi, and B C Patil were found infected by the virus.

Besides him, leader of opposition Siddaramaiah too tested COVID-19 positive.

Yediyurappa and Siddaramaiah are undergoing treatment in a private hospital, where their condition is said to be stable.

(With inputs from agencies)