Coronavirus: Karnataka MLA Sharath Bachegowda tests positive for COVID-19

Independent MLA from Hosakote Sharath Bachegowda confirmed on Facebook that he and wife have tested positive for coronavirus and appealed to all who came in contact with him to get tested

Bengaluru: An Independent MLA from Karnataka has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Hosakote MLA Sharath Bachegowda said in a Facebook post that he and his wife Prathibha had tested positive for the virus.

The legislator said he had been touring COVID-19 infected areas for the past few days, adding two days ago he developed severe pain in the body.

Since he has been visiting areas where there were coronavirus infected people, Bachegowda said he decided to undergo a test along with his wife.

"The report has arrived confirming that we are coronavirus positive," he said.

The independent MLA said though he is asymptomatic he is going in for isolation and appealed to all those who came in contact with him to get themselves tested voluntarily.

Bachegowda is the son of BJP MP from Chikkaballapur constituency B N Bache Gowda.

Actress-turned-Member of Parliament Sumalatha Ambareesh and Congress MLA HD Ranganatha had tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

Meanwhile, a day after the Union health ministry team's visit to the state recommending ramping up testing numbers, Karnataka conducted 1,392 more tests on Wednesday in comparison to the same on Tuesday.

According to statistics shared by the department of health and family welfare services, 19,134 tests were done on July 8. The same was 17,742 a day earlier.

The state has been testing only around 15,000 samples on a daily basis, with a peak of 18,307 tests on June 2. While states with heavy COVID-19 caseloads like Delhi and Tamil Nadu are testing 29,750 persons and 15,393 persons per million, respectively, as of July 5, Karnataka’s figure is at only 9,741 per million, though it is still higher than the national figure of 6,946 per million.