BENGALURU: The Union Health Ministry has sent out letters to five states, including Karnataka, asking them to follow a five-fold strategy and amp up testing. States that are closely being monitored are Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The letter instructs states to monitor clusters of new Covid cases and ensure that the spread of infection is contained. The five-fold strategy i.e Test-Track-Treat-Vaccine and Covid Appropriate Behaviour should be followed.
Karnataka on Thursday reported 471 cases, and the positivity rate increased to 2.14 per cent. Bengaluru clocked 458 cases, and has 2,776 active cases. As per BBMP Covid-19 War Room data, ten wards are reporting maximum number of cases -- Bellandur (41), Doddanekkundi (15), Varthur (12), Hagadur (11), Kadugodi (9), HSR Layout (7), Begur (7), Hoodi (8), Horamavu (6) and Garudacharpalya (6).
The number of clusters is increasing, with a total of seven clusters in the city, a majority of which are from apartments in Mahadevapura area. “Genome samples have to be taken from these clusters on priority basis. The state has been asked to maintain an adequate number of tests and send samples from infected individuals for genome sequencing,” an official from the department said.
Confirming the instructions, Health Commissioner Randeep D said, “After the recent meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee, we have increased testing targets to 30,000. While the target for Bengaluru will be 20,000, it has been increased to 10,000 in other districts.”
Breakthrough infections recorded
The number of tests is high in Bengaluru as a majority of cases are from the city. Meanwhile, doctors say they are seeing breakthrough infections, some even after three shots of vaccine. “In the last week or so, there has been an uptick in patients with acute respiratory viral-like illness symptoms. Most are reporting fever, cough and cold, and stuffy nose. Some are testing positive for Covid, but luckily, their symptoms are mild,” Dr Sachin Kumar, Senior Consultant, Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, Sakra World Hospital, said.
However, Randeep clarifies that so far there has not been a “clear indication as yet” on any new variant. Warning that though there aren’t many patients coming in with Covid at Manipal Hospital, Dr Satyanarayana Mysore, HOD and Consultant, Pulmonology, Manipal Hospital, says, “We are noticing numbers nationwide seem to be high. It must be kept in mind numbers may increase, and further rise with increase in testing. We at Manipal have n’t seen a huge number of cases, but those who come with Covid have mild symptoms.”