Bengaluru: East zone’s Covid-19 testing targets hit by DJ Halli riots

East zone officials have blamed the DJ Halli riots for their inability to meet the Covid-19 testing targets.

Data from the state war room reveals that the zone could meet only 43.68% of the target as on September 8, the least among the eight BBMP zones. It could only test 1,343 samples on September 8, while its target was 3,143 RT-PCR tests.

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The East zone testing programme officer told DH that nobody from DJ Halli and KJ Halli had come forward to get tested since the riots.

“No matter what we do, we are unable to reach our target in Pulakeshinagar,” the official said. “Since the riots, the number of tests has dropped in nearby centres as well. Also, the area's small per cent of elite population doesn’t volunteer to get tested.”

Health officials have even tried going door-to-door on Sundays, but residents refuse to come forward, afraid that they would be sent to hospital or Covid Care Centre if they test positive. “They don’t want to leave home and fear they won’t be treated well,” she added.

Drop in numbers

Before the riots, the DJ Halli area alone would account for 150 to 200 tests per day. That number has now dropped to about 50 per day.

On August 11, the night of the riots, 1,684 RT-PCR tests had been done in the area, 311 more than the numbers on September 8. The total number of tests on August 11 was 2,401, while 2,187 tests were done on September 8, including Rapid Antigen Tests.

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BBMP East zone nodal officer Dr Bhaskar Rajkumar told DH that a comparison of the weekly or monthly average of August and September would give a clear picture of the testing scene before and after the riots. He confirmed that testing was affected in the constituency throughout last month.

"When we look at constituency-wise data, all constituencies are doing fine, except Pulakeshinagar,” Dr Rajkumar said. “We are doing a lot to convince people (to get tested), but unfortunately it is not happening. We have lost 15 days to the curfew and we can’t pull them out of their houses, and that is why the number of new cases is so few in DJ Halli and KJ Halli wards.”