BENGALURU: Even as the 198 wards under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike are swamped with a high Covid caseload, in Bengaluru urban district, it has been relatively smooth sailing with five wards and 245 villages reporting no active cases in the last 10 days. Also, in 40 wards and 326 villages in the district, there were just five cases, and 28 wards and 106 villages saw between six and ten cases. In 100 wards and 153 villages, more than ten cases have been reported.
There are multiple reasons as to why the semi-urban and rural pockets have been effectively able to control the pandemic, but the most important one is perhaps decentralisation. Explaining the steps taken, Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner J Manjunath said, “We have been able to contain the virus spread in wards and villages with just a few to no cases through door-to-door surveys of all families, checking for health symptoms and spot testing.”
He added that all these were done by a team of ASHA and Anganwadi workers, local PHC doctors, panchayat revenue officials and teachers among others. “Medicines are given immediately if the patient and his/her home is fit for isolation. If not, the patient is shifted to the nearest Covid Care Centre, including schools, community halls, choultries or hospitals. Movement is restricted and there is strict surveillance on who enters the ward or village and their health status is tracked. Prophylactic treatment is given with Ivermectin, zinc and calcium tablets to those with symptoms who test negative, so that the situation does not escalate,” he said.
According to him, the challenge in managing the pandemic is in urban areas where migrant workers live in cramped spaces enabling the virus to spread quickly. However, officials here act fast to contain the virus spread by testing and shifting the patient immediately. Recently, they shifted 28 patients from Chandapura ward no. 2 to Oxford Medical College. “We have ramped up testing, touching 10,000 per day, even if cases are reducing,” Manjunath said, adding that they are fully exploiting the window of opportunity provided by the lockdown.
That is not all. Educating citizens on Covid is an important part of their strategy. Officials are also working on capacity building for ICU beds, ventilators, oxygen plants and pipeline, multi-channel monitors and suction operators among others.
The government has tied up with private agencies, such as industrial donors, in the area who have donated medical kits. Some organisations have even sent doctors and nurses while paying an honorarium, saving money for the state exchequer. Bengaluru Urban consists of one City Municipal Council (Hebbagodi), six Town Municipal Corporations (Anekal, Attibele, Bommasandra, Chandapura, Jugani, Madanayakahalli) and 93 panchayats. The seven Urban Local Bodies include 173 wards.