Despite being the highest contributor to the State’s COVID-19 tally, the positivity rate for Bengaluru Urban district has dropped from 24% in July to 14% this month (until August 28), as the number of tests conducted has increased.
A look at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) War Room data for Saturday shows that this month, until August 28, the city had 65,752 positive cases with a positivity rate of 14%. In July, Bengaluru had 52,106 cases, but its positivity rate was 24%.
In fact, July had the highest positivity rate for the city since the first case was reported in Bengaluru. While in March, when 44 cases were reported, the positivity rate was 4%, in April it was 1% with 101 cases, and 1% positivity rate with 386 cases in May. In June, when there was a significant jump in the number of cases, the positivity rate was 7% with 4,904 cases.
Overall, the city’s positivity rate is 15.25% for 172 days. This is amidst the total number of tests reaching 8.16 lakh - a huge increase from the 2.15 lakh tests that were conducted until July 31. In the State, until Sunday, 28,52,675 tests have been conducted cumulatively.
Hephsiba Rani Korlapati, BBMP war room special officer said higher testing numbers was the biggest factor influencing positivity rate. “The testing numbers have seen a huge jump. Targeted testing is happening and we are adopting the trace-test-isolate approach along with increasing testing capacity,” she said. With another round of unlock in the offing, testing numbers could go further up, she added.
Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) Director and State task force member C. Nagaraj said lower positivity rates had a direct correlation between the higher testing numbers. “Earlier, the testing numbers were much lower. Today, we are conducting over 60,000 tests, something which even States that hit the peak did not do. As we conduct more tests, the positivity rate will come down,” he explained.
The task force has also pointed out that in Bengaluru, random testing is being carried out as opposed to more targeted testing of symptomatic people in other districts, which keeps the positivity rate low.
“What we have also observed is that the fear and stigma that existed earlier, which prevented people from coming forward to getting tested, is no longer there. As home quarantine rules have been relaxed, more people are willing to come forward to get tested. So detection of infection is also happening at an earlier stage, unlike earlier,” Dr. Nagaraj added.