BENGALURU: South and West zones in Bengaluru are continuing to record a high number of Covid-19 cases followed by the East zone, but over the last week, Bommanahalli zone too has been witnessing a spike. The contribution of the zone to the overall positive cases in Bengaluru has gone up from 11 per cent on August 1 to 17 per cent on August 6, which was the second-highest after the West zone at 27%. The officials attributed it to increased testing in the zone.
Till mid-July, Bommanahalli zone constituted 8 per cent of the cases, but it increased to 10 per cent and this month, the average of last six days is 12 per cent. From July 31 to August 6, the zone recorded 1,717 positive cases, officials said.
Zonal Joint Commissioner S Ramkrishna told TNIE, “The increase in cases over the last week is due to a higher number of tests being conducted. Initially, we were conducting 500-700 tests per day, but now it has gone up to 2,000 samples. We have identified some spots in the 16 wards where we are setting up camps and conducting free tests. If the numbers are high, it is a good sign as we are identifying positive cases at early stages. Eventually, the spread of the infection will reduce.” Till now, the zone has recorded 5,857 cases. Of them, 3,057 are active, 2,705 discharges and 95 deaths.
K M Gangadhar, an epidemiologist from BBMP, who is looking after Bommanahalli zone, said, “The spread of infection in the zone is less. Last week, we saw many cases and we are working on reducing them by creating awareness. The zone has many slum areas from where cases are being reported. The maximum number of cases are from Singasandra ward, which is near Tamil Nadu and Karnataka border and many returnees from Tamil Nadu are staying there, leading to the spurt.
Also, the ward is densely populated with a population of 1,80,000. Rest of the cases are from Bommanhalli, Arakere and Begur wards. We are identifying people with comorbidties and those at early stages of Covid-19 by using oximeters and conducting door-to-door surveys.” Captain P Mannivanan, Special Officer, Bommanhalli Zone, said, “The high numbers are because of more testing. However, the positivity rate is much lower than South and West zones.”