The data coming out of the COVID-19 war room paints a rather grim picture of Bengaluru, with the city adding a whopping 36,563 cases to its tally in just 23 days since June 30. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) area accounted for nearly half the total number of cases, with 41,467 as on Friday evening.

As of 8 a.m. on Saturday, Karnataka had 85,870 cases, behind Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, according to the Centre’s Corona Watch. Bengaluru’s BBMP area went from 386 positive cases as on May 31 to 4,904 by June 30. The positivity rate has correspondingly seen a sharp spike: from 1.17% until May 31 to 6.91% by June 30 and 16.2% by July 24.

But are allegations of the city “losing the plot” true? Though the BBMP has admitted that unlocking contributed significantly to the rise in numbers, it has also maintained that testing numbers have gone up. According to the BBMP war room data, 45,928 tests were conducted till until May 31. By June 30, the number was 70,973, and as on Friday it was 2,54,985.

Unlock effect

Hephsiba Rani Korlapati, BBMP war room special officer, said, “The unlocking had a major effect. Cases spiked, tasks also increased manifold. It was not impossible, but it definitely became difficult. Everyone was trying to ramp up mechanisms. Primary contacts are most likely to contract the virus, so when the patient is identified, testing and tracking happens continuously. Testing numbers have also gone up. Every city will go through this cycle where there will be a plateau, then it will taper down. There is a cycle for the pandemic also. Bengaluru has seen the spike. Now we are at it to ensure we can reduce fatalities. The idea is to make it minimal,” she said.

She also said the “behavioural aspect” cannot be disregarded in pandemic management, which is why decentralisation is among the measures introduced to cover ward, booth, and zonal levels.

“We are not in isolation from the context in the country. We also had an idea that numbers would spike once the lockdown ended. Several steps were taken in the last one month — ambulances at the ward level, hospital bed management, decentralised COVID-19 care centres, and zonal command centres,” she said.

‘Dynamic’ situation

The BBMP is also relying on the ‘INDEX Application’ introduced this month for real-time push of information on COVID-19 cases for action by zone, including shifting of patient to either hospitals or CCCs based on symptoms, arranging ambulances, and tracking the patient. “The pandemic is dynamic and we are in a fluid situation. It is not a predictable or controlled environment,” Ms. Korlapati said.

Citizens, she said, can play a major role as the pandemic has a lot to do with civic behaviour. Behavioural changes and self-discipline, with community initiatives, would help, she added.