The State Health Department has issued revised testing, isolation, treatment and quarantine guidelines for clusters in apartments, offices, and educational institutions in BBMP and Bengaluru Urban district.
Following are the revised guidelines:
1. No need to seal down the floors, towers, blocks in apartment complexes and educational institutions where clusters are reported.
2. Only asymptomatic domestic helpers aged below 60 who are fully vaccinated (along with precaution dose) should be allowed to work wearing N-95 masks.
3. No need to take up mass testing of asymptomatic residents in apartment complex or educational institution where clusters are reported.
4. In case of small clusters (<5 cases) all symptomatic persons in the flats on the floor; large cluster (≥ 5 cases) all symptomatic persons in the flats of the block/tower; outbreak (-≥ 15cases) all symptomatic persons in the apartment complex as determined by the local health authority should be tested by Rapid Antigen Tests. (RAT)
5. Those testing positive should be isolated and managed as per the State’s guidelines such as home isolation or COVID Care Centre isolation or hospitalisation.
6. Additional samples for RT-PCR should be taken from those who test RAT positive in clusters and samples with Cycle Threshold (CT) value less than 25 should be sent for genome sequencing.
7. High-risk asymptomatic persons such as senior citizens and those with comorbidities should be tested only by RT-PCR and not RAT.
8. RWAs should strictly enforce COVID appropriate behaviour such as compulsory face mask in common areas
9. Facilities in common areas such as club house, swimming pool, reading rooms, sports room, association office, etc. should be closed till the recovery of last case and subsequently sanitised for reuse.
10. Those with COVID-19 symptoms should not attend office, educational institution.
11. Those who test positive through RAT should be isolated and managed as per protocols.
12. If RAT is negative, RT-PCR testing should be done and such persons should isolate themselves and await results of the test and then follow protocols accordingly.
13. If positive, close contacts and primary contacts who are symptomatic should be tested by RAT and if positive, should be isolated and managed.
