Shivajinagar sees 14 COVID-19 cases in one day

The city’s coronavirus clusters have accounted for over half of the COVID-19 cases, with the three main red zones — Shivajinagar, Hongasandra and Padarayanapura — recording 54.62% (118) of the 216 cases.

On Saturday, Shivajinagar reported 14 more cases, taking the total tally in the beleaguered ward to 30. Like earlier, the affected are men, aged between 20 and 50.

Dr Sidappaji, BBMP health officer, east zone, said the fresh patients are migrants from Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They are security guards and hotel and restaurant staff.

“At a medium-sized building (in Shivajinagar), 73 people are residing. As many as seven live in a single room,” he added, speculating that the building was likely densely populated due to low rent. The building has been closed now.

BBMP commissioner B H Anil Kumar clarified that a total of 14 primary contacts and 91 secondary contacts have been sent to institutional quarantine. At least 13 primary contacts have tested negative. The swabs of another 21 people will be sent for testing on Sunday and 18 a day after, a health official said. He expected many of them to test positive. The infected men are asymptomatic and appear to be in perfect health, the official added.

The first case in the cluster was discovered on May 5, when Patient 653, a 34-year-old housekeeper at a quarantine hotel on Chandini Chowk Road at Shivajinagar, tested positive for the disease.

“This individual was infected after coming into contact with a 28-year-old nurse from Shifa Hospital, who was being quarantined at the hotel where he worked,” explained Minister S Suresh Kumar.

Shifa Hospital was closed on April 12 when a doctor became infected after examining a 42-year-old outpatient with symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI). On April 22, the nurse (subsequently known as Patient 420) was also identified as COVID positive.

Patient 653 was only identified as positive 13 days later. He inadvertently infected dozens of people by way of a common bathroom in his four-story residential building, just up the road from the hotel at Chandini Chowk.