As the number of COVID-19 cases in hinterland have increased posing a huge challenge to the State administration, government efforts are now focused on identifying and testing through door-to-door testing.
While funds are being allocated to the districts and local administrations empowered to implement stricter measures, government sources said that the surge in rural areas remain a concern with more than 70% of the new cases reported daily are coming from places outside Bengaluru.
“It is becoming difficult to track persons in villages. Because of stigma attached, people with mild to moderate symptoms are not coming forward for testing or in many places testing centres are not close by. Finally it goes undetected and the virus spreads faster. People are going for testing only when the situation worsens,” sources said.
On Monday, the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa will start his two meetings with the chief executive officers and senior health officials of zilla panchayat to review the ground situation and preparedness to handle the pandemic in villages. He will be meeting officials from districts in Mysuru and Bengaluru divisions on Monday and officials from districts in Belagavi and Kalaburagi divisions on Tuesday.
“Now that the situation in Bengaluru is easing up, focus is on the villages. A similar pattern panned out in Maharashtra too. While Mumbai has reported far less number, the villages and semi-urban locations continue to show higher numbers,” sources said.
Even the order issued on Sunday by the State government formally extending the lockdown from May 24 to June 7, refers to a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in rural and semi urban areas in the State.
The order also states that the priority has to be now given for testing by the teams of doctors and nurses by approaching individual homes where people show symptoms of the virus through rapid antigen testing.
Stating that the focus was now on “path of doctors towards villages,” the order said that final year medical and para medical students are being deployed to testing and providing treatment in rural areas.
