BENGALURU: Since economic and all other activities have resumed, strict measures need to be taken, or else, things will go out of control as the situation is serious, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said on Friday.He was speaking during a meeting with health officials, doctors of primary health care centres, referral hospitals and maternity homes. Dr Giridhar Babu, member of the state advisory committee, BBMP Special Commissioner for health Rajendra Cholan and Special Commissioner for solid waste management D Randeep were also present.
He directed health officials and marshals to take stern action against people who do not follow norms and close down commercial establishments such as malls, hotels, restaurants and conventional halls, if people violate norms.
“The positivity rate is now beyond 1%. The only way to bring it down is to increase testing. Now, at least 50,000 tests should be done per day. Also, the vaccination target also needs to be increased to 50,000 a day, if herd immunity is to be achieved. Asha workers and health officials should start registering slum dwellers and those who are not technologically sound or educated and bring them to PHCs to get them vaccinated. Contact tracing needs to be more aggressive. People in home isolation should also be checked on a daily basis,” the Commissioner said.
Orders will be issued and owners of establishments will be warned of stern action if prescribed guidelines are not adhered to. Police will also be roped in to check on people on roads and marshals will also check taxis.Prasad also said that since Covaxin is also being given, those taking the jab need not sign any consent form.
“That cases are rising is an indication that we are slipping up somewhere. The new variants from Brazil, South Africa and Israel are more infectious. So, contact tracing is very important and even we miss cases by a few days, it will be a problem. Data entry and tabulation should be automatic everywhere as time is wasted in manual entry and verification,” said Dr Babu.
He said that health staff must go back to checking on people with comorbidities, ILI and SARI. There is also a need to check on people with symptoms, as in cluster cases, it has been observed that such people were found to be positive. It is also important to check on travel history in cluster cases as those who tested positive had travelled recently. Cholan said that around 35,000 tests are being done every day and needs to be increased.