Bengaluru: Officer keeps son infected with coronavirus at railway guest house, risks lives of hundreds

A female Indian Railways employee is drawing criticism for keeping her 25-year-old son, who recently returned to Bengaluru from Germany via Spain and has now tested positive for COVID-19, at an Officers Rest House (ORH) near the KSR Railway Station.

An officer at the South Western Railway Zone, the woman made her son stay at the ORH on March 13 instead of taking him to their home in Kathriguppe, putting at risk the health of other employees as well as the members of the public.

As he started to develop COVID-19 symptoms over the next few days, he informed the doctors about it and went in for a check-up at a hospital. On Wednesday, March 18, he tested positive for the fatal disease at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Disease (RGICD). The woman has now stopped coming to work.

Panic struck railway officials at the station

As soon as they learned that the individual has been infected, the authorities at the railway station immediately swung into action and closed down the rest house. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) sanitized the ORH and checked up on all the officials who stayed at the guest house in the last few days.

Furious at the woman employee for being irresponsible, a top railway official said, "Can you imagine how many people her son could have come in contact with while going out for food or while simply roaming in and around the railway station?"

"This sort of careless behaviour is not acceptable. The mother appears to have ensured her family was safe while putting others at risk", he added.

Fresh COVID-19 cases are emerging in Karnataka almost every day and currently, there are 15 patients in the state. The state government has ramped up its efforts to curb down the spread of the novel coronavirus. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday allocated Rs 200 crore to the state to combat the China-originated virus.