Covid situation worsens in Bengaluru; govt warns of lockdown

With the Covid cases in the surge, Bengaluru reported 628 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, a high after reporting less than 250 cases a day all through February. It was the highest single-day spike among big cities in the south too with Chennai (294), Kozhikode (288) and Greater Hyderabad (35) reporting not even half as many cases.
On Monday, Bengaluru reported 550 fresh cases, taking active Covid cases to 6,454.

Health experts say the gradual rise in cases is a matter of grave concern and insist measures must be taken to curb the spread of the virus. Dr Giridhara R Babu, epidemiologist and member of the technical advisory committee, said infections are largely being reported from the peripheral areas of the city.

 “The incremental rise suggests Bengaluru is seeing a surge,” Dr Babu said. “Most of the new cases are in peripheral areas where prevalence was comparatively lower in our earlier serosurvey. Outer areas are epicentres of the surge.”
He pointed out the virus will spread only if there is a conducive atmosphere for transmission. “It could be that the virus itself is changing and we haven’t been able to detect clear strains in some of these places,” Dr Babu said. “We don’t know if they are more infectious. But the fact remains that people are not following Covid-appropriate behaviour. Marshals can’t be everywhere. Self-regulation is needed.”

He warned the city is “at a tipping point”. “If we don’t take action now, Bengaluru will see 1,000 cases a day,” he said. “Once we hit that mark, it will increase exponentially, and it will become very difficult to control. This will lead to an increase in ICU admissions. We will have to re-do whatever we did last year.” He also urged the government to engage private hospitals again to treat Covid patients.

Responsible behaviour needed by the Public

Dr V Ravi, neurovirologist and another member of the state’s technical advisory committee, said most of the current cluster outbreaks are being reported in hostels and apartments.

“People have to behave more responsibly,” Dr Ravi said. “Tracking, testing and treating have to be more aggressive. A huge part of the responsibility lies with people and they must understand that the situation is slipping out of our hands.”
N Manjunatha Prasad, commissioner BBMP, said one reason for the surge is the influx of people from neighbouring Maharashtra and Kerala, where infections are high.

“But not everyone who is testing positive has travel history,” Prasad admitted. “Lack of Covid-appropriate behaviour among the public is a big reason. Also, cases are increasing because testing has increased in Bengaluru. We are currently conducting 40,000 tests a day and we will enhance it to 50,000 a day.” He said BBMP is also mulling reopening of Covid Care Centres to help take the load off hospitals.

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