As number of fresh Covid cases on rise, BBMP to ramp up testing

Bengaluru: The BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad, in a meeting, informed that in the last two days 40 out of 210 students at Manjushree College and 28 flat inmates were infected at SNM Raj Lake View Residency in the Bommanahalli Zone. Prasad said that 500 residents have been tested and there are 1,000 more to be tested. In this regard, six testing camps have been set up.

The commissioner said that most of the students attending Manjushree Nursing College are from Kerala and there is a high incidence of infection from students who come to the city from there.

"There is no restriction on those coming from Kerala as per the orders of the central government. If a person from Kerala comes to the city, he / she should enrol in the institute only if there is an RT PCR Negative report within 72 hours. Anyone who violates the law will be prosecuted according to the Disaster Management Act," Prasad said.

The BBMP has said that a party could be a probable reason behind the infection. The authorities have been asked to increase the number of Covid tests. There are a total of 341 testing teams, including 141 primary health care centres.

The Joint Commissioner is directed to review the testing and the Zonal Special Commissioners should hold a biennial review meeting to check for more cases and isolate those who are positive. It has also been instructed to detect and isolate primary and secondary contacts through contact tracing after being positive.

Officials have been instructed to contact Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) in connection with Covid cases in the city. Prasad has asked the officials to meet the RWAs through video conference. The commissioner noted that in the background of low Covid cases the citizens have lowered the guard. The marshals have been instructed to take appropriate action against those not found to be wearing masks.

Second dose of Covid-19 vaccination has begun. As of Sunday, 4,09,836 healthcare workers and 86,798 frontline workers have been administered the first dose of vaccine across the state with a coverage of 50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively. The state government has set a deadline for health workers to get the vaccine and those who do not get the vaccine must get the vaccine by February 25. Health workers will not be vaccinated after that. Those who received the first dose will be given the second dose.