In one of the first instances of an elected representative getting directly affected by COVID-19 in Karnataka, Imran Pasha, corporator of Padarayanapura ward in Bengaluru tested positive on Friday. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner BH Anil Kumar confirmed the development to TNM.
“He has tested positive,” Anil Kumar told TNM when asked if the corporator has tested positive.
Documents accessed by TNM show he was asymptomatic when he tested positive. He has no known contact with any patient who has already tested positive, neither does he have any relevant travel history.
The ward in West Bengaluru has been in the news as it has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the city and was sealed off wholly in the initial days of the lockdown. At present the ward has 25 active cases while a total of 64 cases were reported.
The total number of cases reported from Bengaluru city stands at 303 till date.
According to the BBMP, the ward will have containment measures put in place till June 21 if no further cases are reported.
The ward was also one of the first places in Bengaluru where mass testing as random tests carried out returned positive results.
Padarayanapaura had grabbed headlines after a ruckus took place on April 20 after some residents of the ward did not want to undergo institutional quarantine as asked by the BBMP and Health Department officials.
At that time the ward had 11 COVID-19 patients and the health department and BBMP officials were trying to quarantine the primary and secondary contacts. Out of them, four had attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi.
Following the incident of violence, around 120 persons were arrested by the police for vandalism. Five of those who were arrested and transferred to Ramanaraga district jail had tested positive.