Karnataka Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao has denied media reports suggesting that his daughter Ameera Rao had tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).
"A rumour has been spread on TV channels & social media that my daughter Ameera Rao, who returned from London on 16th March has tested positive for COVID-19. This is false and even if it was true there was no shame in admitting it. Media should be responsible and not misinform," Dinesh Gundu Rao said in a tweet.
TV channels had earlier suggested that one of the COVID-19 patients in Karnataka was Ameera, Dinesh Gundu Rao's daughter.
She had returned from London 10 days ago and has been quarantined at home ever since. "As responsible parents, we have quarantined our daughter 10 days ago at the advise of our doctors and just because the stamp is outside our house, it’s not a media sensation. It means we are responsible parents and it's a responsible government,” Tabu Rao, Dinesh's wife said in a Facebook post.
Tabu added that no throat swabs or blood samples of Ameera have been taken so far and that she is healthy. She urged the media to ask her or her husband before publishing reports about them.
There have been 55 cases of coronavirus in Karnataka. Among them, four patients have a travel history of returning from London.
In the latest case, a 35-year-old man from Mysuru who has no relevant foreign travel or contact history was found to be positive for COVID-19. The man who worked in a pharmaceutical company had however been in contact with several healthcare professionals, a bulletin from the Karnataka state health department stated.