Bengaluru sees drop in containment zones

Despite reporting 300-400 Covid cases every day, Bengaluru has witnessed a drastic reduction in containment zones in recent days.

While the city registered 176 containment zones on August 12, the numbers came down to 112 on August 22, a reduction of 64, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) data revealed.

Civic officials attributed the reduction to strict enforcement of rules and greater awareness levels.

“Once the containment zone details were made public, people became wary about it. In many apartments, residents were cautious as they did not want their blocks to be sealed,” BBMP Special Commissioner (Health) D Randeep told DH. “Even within the microcontinent areas, people wanted to come out of the list soon by adhering to strict Covid rules. This prevented further infection and addition of any new containment zones.”

Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have also been cooperative in implementing the guidelines and keeping the infection in check, according to health officials. “At one point, nearly 50% of the containment zones were in apartment complexes. The RWAs have played a major role in preventing the infection from spreading further.”

On August 13, the BBMP had issued a detailed advisory to the RWAs, restricting a few activities. A few zonal health officials pointed at the increased testing as the major reason for the decrease in containment zones.

“We have intensified testing and tracing of contacts when a containment zone is declared. This early testing has helped prevent the emergence of new containment zones,” said Dr Vijendra B K, Chief Health Officer. Officials see the trends as positive since they are not getting reports of containment zones with more than three cases. The cases are more spread out with reduced transmutability, as the R-naught (R0) factor is still below the expected mark of one.

“There may be infected people but what we need to look at is how fast the infection is spreading. In that perception, the reduction in the number of containment zones is a positive sign,” an official said.

BBMP apprehensive about festive season

Successful in reducing the infection, BBMP officials are now expecting that the numbers could go up soon, owing to the festive season.

“People have started visiting markets. Many of them also have gatherings in their residences. There is a high possibility that the number of containment zones will increase in the coming days,” BBMP Special Commissioner (Health) D Randeep said.

He added that officials are working proactively to ensure that the cases are caught early and isolated to prevent any outbreak.