While Bengaluru’s COVID-19 management is still better than other metros in terms of number of cases and death rate, the recovery rate is low. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) attributes this to inconsistencies in data collation.
BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar said that the civic body was not getting data on the recovered and discharged cases from the hospitals treating COVID-19 patients in the city.
‘Not receiving data on recoveries, discharges’
“We are not getting data on discharges even from the government hospitals, except from Victoria Hospital. Many patients may have recovered and would have been discharged. But this is not reflected in our data; and many are still being reflected as active cases. This is one of the reasons for the low recovery rate,” he said.
Stating that the BBMP had now put in place a protocol to be followed, he said the recovery rate in Bengaluru also depended on the number of cases being reported.
Spike in cases
“The number of COVID-19 positive cases has seen a spike over the past week. This also accounts for the lower recovery rate,” he explained. Mr. Anil Kumar said that as on July 1, the recovery rate was around 15%.
According to the BBMP war room report on June 30, of the total 4,555 reported COVID-19 cases, 3,917 were active. On June 29, of the total 4,059 cases, 3,545 were active cases. According to the July 1 war room report, the total number of positive cases stood at 5,290, with 735 reported cases in 24 hours. The total number of active cases is 4,652. The war room report (June 30) has put the mortality rate at 2.09%.
Three 14-day cycles
Reiterating that the number of cases may continue to be high over the next 15 days, he said that experts had warned of a spike in three cycles of 14 days each.
“Citizens have to be vigilant and ensure that they maintain social distance, practice good hygiene,” he stressed.
According to data provided by the BBMP on Wednesday, the civic body had collected ₹4.25 lakh in fines in as many as 2,125 cases for not maintaining social distance and not wearing masks.
A total of ₹ 3.73 lakh was collected as fine from 1,866 persons for not wearing masks, and ₹51,803 in 259 cases was collected for not maintaining social distance.