District in-charge Minister Shashikala Jolle has said that contact tracing of six COVID-19 infected persons is under way in the Containment Zone of Vijayapura city where the affected persons were residing.

Briefing media persons after holding a review meeting with officials here on Monday, she said that most of the primary contacts of the infected persons have been traced and swab samples are being collected for tests.

On the question of how these persons got affected when there was no single case in the district till April 12, Ms. Jolle said that the police and officials are conducting investigation in the matter.

Later, Deputy Commissioner Y.S. Patil said that according to preliminary investigation, the elderly woman and her husband had visited Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra, while five members of a family had visited Pune. “We are conducting full investigation to find out more details,” he said and added that there is no relationship between the two families that have the infection.

About the death of the husband of the elderly woman who is undergoing treatment in the isolation ward here, he said that the man died on Sunday night even before his infection could be confirmed.

“We are still waiting for the report as he was showing symptoms of infection. After his death, his last rites were performed as per the protocol of the government issued for Corona-infected patients,” he said.

Ms. Jolle, meanwhile, appealed to the people not to panic and not to lose hope. The State government is with them and doing everything to control the spread of the pandemic, she said.