A majority of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 (approximately 70%) had a travel history. Others contracted the virus when they attended weddings and social gatherings, visited places of worship or in common areas in apartment complexes. This was one of the key findings of a detailed analysis by the civic body on the recent surge in positive cases.
Many cases are being reported from apartments and multi-dwelling units, said N. Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
With Bengaluru recording 1,037 cases on Friday, the civic body has stepped up surveillance and contact tracing. As many as 141 PHC medical officers have been directed to keep tabs on patients coming to private clinics and hospitals with Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) symptoms. “We are tracking these patients and testing them,” he said.
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Teachers and officials in health, engineering and revenue departments, involved in contact tracing, have been tasked with identifying at least 15 people the infected person came in contact with as well as track the movement of the patient 15 days prior to the day of testing.
“We have found that at least 3% primary contacts identified are testing positive for COVID-19,” he said, and pointed out that this meant that those who have tested positive were not isolating themselves after developing symptoms,” he stated.
While the new cases are rising, according to BBMP, 90% of those who have tested positive are asymptomatic. To help people isolate themselves, the COVID-19 Care Centres at Haj Bhavan, Koramangala Indoor Stadium and HAL will be operational by Monday.
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Testing goes up in March
The BBMP conducted 44,000 tests on Thursday, the highest in March so far, and plans to increase the number to 50,000 a day by next week. Though the positivity rate touched 1.36%, the case fatality rate was a low 0.63%, he said.
Over 3 lakh people have been vaccinated so far in Bengaluru.