Coronavirus: BBMP officer's positive result sent for recheck

The 28 new Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru on Monday included two cases involving the city police, while the positive report of a senior municipal officer was sent for a recheck.

Dr Vijendra Bilaguli, Chief Health Officer, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), told DH that the officer had tested positive after coming into contact with Padarayanapura corporator Imran Pasha. However, doubts about the test had prompted a retest.

“He is a known contact of Pasha. However, there was an issue with an element of the test. His samples have gone back for testing. For this reason, he was not included on the list of positive cases released on Monday,” Dr Bilaguli said.

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This was confirmed by a second official in the Palike. Sources said that the affected officer is an assistant commissioner.

When asked about the reason for the retest, a source said as the assistant commissioner worked in the head office, concerns were high that other officials are among primary contacts. “This is why his results have gone back for confirmation,” the source said.

New containment zones

Meantime, four new containment zones have come up in the city, based on cases diagnosed as positive on Sunday. According to two senior Palike officials, these are in KHB Colony, JJ Nagar, VV Puram and Chamarajpet, after a 28-year-old policeman turned positive on Monday. “We are setting up the containment zone around his home in the area and sanitising the station,” the BBMP said, adding that it was not known how he contracted the disease.

Out of the new cases reported on Monday, 23 are inter-state travellers from Maharashtra, barring one from Rajasthan. Another case for whom contact tracing is still being carried out is a 43-year-old head constable from the JJ Nagar police station, which is a stone’s throw away from Padarayanapura.

The three remaining cases are contacts of Patient 2519, a 61-year-old woman who tested positive for the disease on May 28. She has no known source of the disease and had been identified because she had Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI).