Daily case count low, but Bengaluru's Covid TPR continues to surge

A state health department analysis has revealed that Bengaluru's Covid Test Positivity Rate (TPR) has been steadily increasing since February.

The TPR was below 1 per cent during the first four weeks of 2023, but by week five it had crossed the 1 per cent threshold and continued to rise. By week eight, it had reached 4.33 per cent, and it peaked at 9.58 per cent on week 10.

Despite these alarming figures, the absolute daily case counts in Bengaluru have remained relatively low. As of March 19, the city had a total of 394 active cases.

Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Chairman Dr M K Sudarshan was concerned by the rise in hospitalisation cases. While 68 people are currently hospitalised, 50 are in general beds, 13 in ICU, and five in HDU. None of them are on ventilator.

Preliminary findings from a clinical audit of hospitalisations in the BBMP show that patients admitted in ICU are those with comorbidities. State Health Commissioner D Randeep had asked for test numbers in the BBMP to be increased, given the increasing TPR and hospitalisations.

Bellandur and HSR Layout are the areas with the highest Covid-19 case counts, with three cases on average per day, over the past 10 days. However, of the 198 BBMP wards, 174 have fewer than five cases.

Doctors report seeing more admissions for influenza infections than Covid-19, but only small proportions of influenza patients are hospitalised.

The Viral Research & Diagnostic Laboratory has reported 23 cases of H3N2 in Bengaluru since January. Two H3N2 deaths have been reported in the state so far — an 87-year-old Hassan man and an 80-year-old man from Ballari.

The BBMP clinical audit has not found any cases of co-infection with Covid-19 and H3N2. While such co-infections are expected to affect high-risk groups more seriously, doctors in private hospitals, too, say they have rarely seen such cases.