Covid-19: Not market areas, but urban slums turn patient clusters in East Zone

BBMP East Zone has 2,004 cases, of which 1,694 were active, as on Sunday. But crowded market areas are not the problem, urban slums are. Crammed spaces act as incubators for the virus. The highest number of cases have been reported in the urban slums of DJ Halli, and in areas like KJ Halli and Robertson Road.

Dr Siddappaji A, medical officer, East Zone, BBMP, told DH: "The contact and travel history for a majority of cases is not known. Earlier, there was a clear cut contact history established, but now there is none. More than 600 cases have been reported in the zone. Robertson Road, KG Halli, and DJ Halli have seen the maximum number of patients clusters in the zone. The cluster consists of primary contacts mostly."

KG Halli medical officers involved in contact tracing said they had not been able to trace the source of infection in most cases.

Dr Divya G, medical officer, KG Halli, told DH: "We have had 26 cases. Most of the area is an urban slum and that is the reason we have so many cases. Around six patients are primary contacts of previously diagnosed patients and the rest are new index patients. These index patients had a normal fever that turned into Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and then turned out to be Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI)."

"One patient worked at a Bidadi company. Now, he, his family, and around 10 people who worked in his company are getting infected. Other cases are neighbours of infected patients. Their age and co-morbidities are major factors precipitating the spread," she added.

The East Zone comprises Shivajinagar, Pulakeshinagar, Sarvagnanagar, Shanthinagar, Hebbal, and CV Raman Nagar.

DJ Halli medical officer Dr Nishath Fathima said most of the cases could be attributed to community spread.

"Most of the patients here are illiterate. Their ignorance makes them hide their histories. They cannot afford to travel. We do not have any upscale locality here. So, not many international travellers are present in the area. One or two have interstate travel history and have spread it to the others. Also, most of them work in Shivajinagar. They work there, come back, and end up spreading the infection to others," she explained.

Robertson Road medical officer Dr Shama Prabhu D said the area alone had a whopping 57 cases. "We have not been able to establish the source of infection in most cases as patients are not forthcoming with their histories. The index patients comprise 60% of the cases and 40% are primary contacts," she said.