BENGALURU: In a bid to ensure that people visiting restaurants are safe from infection, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has undertaken Covid testing for restaurant staff and owners.
Back in June, BBMP had plans to conduct testing in market areas, supermarkets, medical establishments and restaurants. In August, testing camps were set up. Over the past few weeks, this drive was expanded to include restaurants.
Three days ago, BBMP carried out testing in the Central Business District. “On Wednesday, BBMP volunteers came to the restaurant and told us we need to get ourselves tested. It is a good initiative. Since restaurants receive good crowds, we should be safe so we don’t spread any infection to others,” said Rufqa Hassan, who owns The Only Place on Museum Road.
In Koramangala, volunteers tested staff at 15 restaurants. “Though the staff were asymptomatic, many tested positive and were isolated. Once a staffer tests positive, sanitisation is carried out, and we try to reach out to customers the staffer would have come in contact with. As many customers make advanced bookings, restaurants have their contacts and it is easy to trace them,” said Rahul Francis, volunteer and coordinator of BBMP mobile testing team — Ward 151.
Francis said the government needs to bring in a circular, asking staffers to get themselves tested every month. “The government should add that in case anyone reports to work after three days’ leave, they need to bring a Covid-negative result. New employees should get a negative report 72 hours before reporting,” he added. Dr Bhaskar Rajkumar, nodal officer of BBMP East Zone, said, “It is not mandatory for restaurant staff to get tested. However, we have started doing this as a precautionary measure.”