Coronavirus Outbreak: Infected Google Techie's Wife Fled to Agra, Claims Report; Karnataka Government Clarifies

Bengaluru, March 14: A 25-year-old woman who allegedly escaped Bengaluru, leaving her coronavirus-infected husband aside, has been tested positive for novel coronavirus on Friday, according to a TOI report. The health officials said the woman and her husband -- a Google employee -- recently returned from Italy from their honeymoon, the report claimed. However, the Karnataka government on Saturday clarified that the woman had left Bengaluru before her husband contracted coronavirus.

According to TOI report, which has now been updated with some clarifications, the woman escaped from Bengaluru on March 8 leving her coronavirus-infected husband aside. She took the flight to New Delhi and the travelled to Agra to be with the parents where she was too tested positive with noval coronavirus. Stating more, the health officials claimed that they faced resistance when they visited the house in Agra. Coronavirus Outbreak in India: COVID-19 Count Reaches 83, Five Suspects Escape From Isolation Ward of Mayo Hospital; Latest Updates.

Claiming that only after district magistrate's intervention and use of police force, they were able to test the woman for coronavirus, Agra chief medical officer Dr Mukesh Kumar Vats said, "After the medical team reached the house of the woman’s parents, her father, a railway engineer, refused to cooperate with us and lied that his daughter had left for Bengaluru. But after the district magistrate’s intervention, we were able to gain access to their house and took all the nine family members to the district hospital for screening."

The Karnataka government, however, clarified that the woman had travelled to Delhi and later Agra without knowing that her husband has coronavirus infections. Dr Sudhakar, Minister of Medical Education, said the couple had travelled to Switzerland and Greece. He said they landed in Mumbai on March 6 and travelled to Bengaluru on March 8. During this time, the techie had shown no symptoms of coronavirus.

"From Mumbai, they reached Bengaluru on March 8 at around 9:45 pm. She left from the airport at 1:30 am on March 9 to Delhi. From Delhi, she travelled to Agra," Dr Sudhakar said at a press conference, as reported by The News Minute. He added that the husband fell sick the next day while at work and he was subsequently found to be positive only on March 12. It would be wrong to say she fled, as on March 9, her husband had not shown any symptoms or tested positive, Dr Sudhakar said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 14, 2020 01:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).