Officer’s driver had succumbed to the coronavirus recently
BENGALURU:
In a shocker for the state administration, 2001 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer Dr J Ravishankar has tested positive for the coronavirus. His wife and son too have been infected by the virus.
Ravishankar becomes the first serving IAS officer to be infected. He is a primary contact of his official driver, who tested positive for Covid-19 and died recently.
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As per close sources in Vidhana Soudha, Ravishankar was having a mild headache for some time. As his driver had died recently, to be on the safe side he, his wife and son underwent Covid tests and all three were found to be infected. They are currently undergoing treatment at Manipal Hospital.
Ravishankar is currently posted as secretary to the Urban Development Department (UD and Municipalities). Three deputy secretaries (of whom 2 are KAS officers) working under him, one joint secretary and his other two drivers are among his 25 primary contacts while around 7 secondary contacts are now under self-quarantine.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar and fellow IAS officers have conveyed their wishes for a speedy recovery to Ravishankar.
