No more posters on Covid houses in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: To encourage people to come forward for testing and to remove the stigma and discrimination attached to Covid-19, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to do away with pasting of posters outside the homes of people under home quarantine or isolation. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad told reporters on Wednesday that the decision was taken after the consent of Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar and state government. “A government order will be issued soon. It is to remove the stigma,” he said. 

“Also, the feedback is that many do not come forward to test themselves fearing what neighbours might think. The posters are being done away with to encourage people to get themselves tested. But isolation norms will have to be followed and neighbours will be informed about the cases. All those under home quarantine and isolation, including primary contacts, have to upload their details on the Kushala portal and update the information at regular intervals with the Swastah, NGO and volunteers, who call them seeking details,” Prasad said. 

NO BARRICADES, TOO 
He said barricades, marking the 100-metre containment zone, will not be put up anymore. 
In the coming days, many Covid Care Centres (CCCs) where patient admissions are low will be closed. “Since many people are opting for home quarantine, over 50% of CCCs are vacant and some of them will be closed. The capacity at BIEC Centre too will be shrunk. Of the 5,000 beds allocated, not even 3,000 are occupied. Beds and other facilities will be distributed to hospitals and hotels, where there is a need. In future, based on the requirement, CCCs will be set up.” 

HOSPITALS TO PREPARE AUDIT REPORT
All hospitals treating coronavirus patients have to prepare audit reports and share them with the government. He said that a form has been prepared and it has to be filled by all hospitals. The audit is needed as it was found that in some hospitals, the death rate was very high, while in others it was low. “In around 20 hospitals, the death rate is higher than the stipulated average of 1%. The audit report is mandatory, especially in these hospitals. The government aims to reduce the fatality rate from the present 1.66% to less than 1%. For example, the fatality rate in St John’s Hospital is 14.8%, while in Victoria, it is 6.7%. Teams have been formed to go to hospitals to take stock of the situation and prepare a report,” he said.He said hospitals need to be involved and timely survey of patient details will help in controlling the cases and ensuring a drop in death rate. 

DISCREPANCY IN TEST RESULTS
On complaints from people that two different test reports are being given, Prasad said that directions have been issued that rapid antigen reports of those who have symptoms must not be given until RT-PCR reports come. Also, patients should be informed of negative reports. The targeted population — those with Influenza Like Illness, Severe Acute Respiratory Infection, primary contacts and people with comorbidities — will be tested. The house-to-house survey will be intensified to find people with comorbidities and test them. Secondary contacts will no longer be tested as their positivity rate is very less and test kits cannot be wasted, he added.