BENGALURU: An analysis of Bengaluru’s Covid figures in the past 5 days, as per the state health bulletin, reveals that for over 80 per cent of positive cases, contact tracing is still underway. However, BBMP officials have a different story to tell. While senior BBMP officials and Covid war room members admit contact tracing is still going on, BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar says this is false. He told TNIE, “Each time a positive case is reported, ASHA and health workers note down contact details of the patient. But due to so much data, uploading it on the website takes time. So it appears as if contact tracing is still underway.”

The city over the past 5 days has been reporting 700- 1,250 cases a day. Health officials are collecting 5,000 swab samples a day on average. The BBMP and health department have roped in revenue inspectors and formed 200 teams to trace contacts at the ward level. “Week-long training has been given to field workers on how to collect information. Around 5,000 cases come to us, and 2,500 contacts are traced. A lot more people need to be traced, but it is becoming hard to keep track,” said a BBMP official in the contact tracing team.