BENGALURU: At a time when Bengaluru and many other parts of the state are witnessing a sharp spike in Covid- 19 cases, the citizens’ quarantine squad, which is keeping tabs on those in home quarantine, has found that over 23,000 individuals have furnished wrong information about their place of residence. After the government laid down protocols for inter-state returnees, which included mandatory 14-day home quarantine, the citizens’ quarantine squad was tasked with ensuring that the norms are not violated.
However, the team is dealing with a huge problem as many have not given their correct residential address. According to statistics available with the squad, about 69,297 people are in active home quarantine as on Sunday in Bengaluru Urban district. Of them, only 46,113 people have given their proper address details while 23,184 individuals have not, leading to difficulties in tracking them. As on Sunday, 13,036 volunteers have enrolled for the citizens’ quarantine squad.
Volunteers first have to register on www.quarantinesquad.in and join a group on the Telegram app related to their respective wards. Details regarding the number of people in home quarantine, along with their addresses and contact numbers will be available on the Quarantine Watch app of the State Government. The volunteers go door to door and conduct checks on people in home quarantine on the 2nd, 5th, 10th and 14th day. Subir Sehgal, a citizen coordinator in Bengaluru, recalled a recent incident wherein he had to check on a home-quarantined individual at an apartment complex in Yelahanka.
But the residents of the apartment denied having travelled anywhere and insisted that they are not home-quarantined. “The security guard at the apartment pointed to a flat where a party was on. I went there along with Civil Defence personnel and told the residents that they can’t host parties with so many people when they are supposed to be under home quarantine. They were shocked when they heard this and said they hadn’t travelled anywhere for the past six months. Later, I realised that the wrong address was given.”