Shivamogga: The first case of the South Africa variant of the Covid-19 virus in Karnataka has been detected on February 10.
Additional chief secretary, Health department, Jawaid Akhtar said that the 58-year-old man is from Shivamogga, and the initial report about the man hailing from Bengaluru was incorrect.
District health officer, Dr Rajesh Suragihalli said that the patient travelled from Dubai to Bengaluru on February 22, and came to Shivamogga.
He took the test at Bengaluru Aiport and then travelled to Shivamogga. The swab sample revealed that the person was infected with the South Africa variant.
Authorities immediately initiated a contact tracing of the patient and found nine primary contacts and several other secondary contacts. The 58-year-old man has been shifted to McGann Hospital for institutional quarantine.
Before this, the South Africa variant has been detected in three other states from the country- Gujarat, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.