Bengaluru apartment building under lockdown for containment of COVID-19

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's (BBMP) public health officers surveyed all apartments in an apartment complex on Cunningham Road on Thursday morning and checked the number of occupants in each flat after one resident of the building tested positive for COVID-19.

Dr Shive Gowda, Shivajinagar BBMP Medical Health Officer told DH, "We surveyed 46 houses. Since yesterday, we have been checking the residents' temperature. Will continue for 14 days. Our team comprises of auxiliary nurse midwives and final year nursing students along with one MBBS doctor. The nearest urban primary health centres are in Tusker Town and Vasanthnagar. We have sourced staff from there. We have called the resident welfare association there and briefed them on containment."

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"The RWA is not letting the residents come out, so home quarantine is being followed strictly. The apartment and its surroundings were fumigated. And lifts and staircases were disinfected. The affected Covid-19 patient has been sent to Manipal Hospital and the patient's family members are at home. They're all asymptomatic," he added.

In a message to all the apartment dwellers, the apartment committee said, "Given this information, we now need to lockdown the community and prevent movement of individuals in and out of the property. This will be in effect till Sunday, 22nd March, at which time we will inform you of further steps to be taken."

"All house staff, drivers and cooks who come in from outside must be notified not to come in to work until the lockdown period is over," the message read.

For residents of the apartment who do not have a live-in cook, and we're unable to cook themselves, the apartment arranged for food internally. The apartment dwellers were advised to order groceries online.

"If you have any infants or elders in your home, you should look at separating them in their own quarters/rooms as much as possible, with minimal contact," the message read.

The committee members of the apartment urged its residents to act responsibly.

"Please keep in mind that the confirmed case in the building is not the main issue we are dealing with, it is all the possible unidentified virus carriers amongst us. Any one of us can be potentially spreading the virus without knowing it, and for that reason precisely, we must isolate ourselves and act responsibly," the message added