With 80 Covid-19 cases, Bengaluru's Prestige Shantiniketan bracing for huge spike

With just 11% of the residents tested so far, Prestige Shantiniketan, a 105-acre integrated township with 20 apartment towers, is bracing for a massive spike in Covid-19 cases.

The sprawling township, located in Whitefield’s Hoodi ward and one of the biggest in the city, has 80 active Covid-19 cases since early April.

R Venkatachalapathy, Joint Commissioner, Mahadevapura Zone, said: “We were initially getting a handful of cases from the location, but since the last few days, the number of cases being found has increased.”

A resident in the township of 10,000 occupants blamed the mounting cases on the widespread breach in Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB).

“There are many people with fever but they are not ready to get tested. People are not wearing masks and Covid is spreading like crazy in our society,” the resident wrote, adding that the actual case count at the township could be in the excess of 100.

Zonal officials admitted the difficulties in persuading the residents to follow CAB and to volunteer for testing because the location is an independent township. They have begun talks with the society association to allow testing and other surveillance measures.

“The first round of tests was held in the first week of April, while the second round started on Sunday. So far, we have tested 1,100 people. We have planned to deploy six mobile teams from Monday to cover the various towers,” a zonal officer said.

Zonal officials said the cases have been strewn across the various towers and that micro-containment zones have been set up at units where positive cases have been found. “This comprises sealing off the affected floor in addition to the floors above and below,” a zonal official said.

“It is not possible to erect a containment zone in a tower, fifteen of which have 18 floors, each with four apartment units, because that would necessitate providing supplies to a large number of people,” the official added.

The civic body acknowledged that the huge number of cases in the second surge has made it challenging for them to supply containment zones with provisions as they had done last year.

The BBMP said it is overseeing 33 major active containment zones across the city.