More Covid cases reported in wards on Bengaluru outskirts

The city may be reporting 350-400 cases a day for the past few days, but cases are higher in 10 of the wards, eight of which are in the peripheries bordering other states and districts.

“Our war room teams are analysing the cases in the outer areas. We have observed that many of the cases in these areas have a travel history. It has also come to our notice that many residing there travel to other districts or states often,” said BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta.

Officials have also attributed the higher number of daily cases to more apartment buildings on the outskirts. “Nearly 55 per cent of the containment zones are in apartments and there are more apartments in the outer areas,” BBMP Special Commissioner (Health) Randeep D said.

“In such closed spaces, the chances of virus spread are higher. On the other hand, in the inner areas, since there are more individual houses, we have been able to control the spread.”

Advisory to RWAs

A rise in containment zones in apartment buildings has prompted the BBMP to issue a new advisory to resident welfare associations.

“We will ensure all the primary and secondary contacts are tested,” Randeep said. “If we discover a cluster in an apartment block, we have mandated testing for all the residents.”

Of the 10 wards reporting a higher number of cases, six are in the Mahadevapura Zone, two in RR Nagar, and one each in Bommanahalli and Yelahanka.

“In Mahadevapura, there are a large number of apartments. To make sure we don’t miss testing any contacts, we have increased the testing target from 5,000 to 7,500. This is one of the highest number of tests done across all the eight zones,” Randeep said. Mahadevapura also has the highest positivity rate at 0.7 per cent.

On the brighter side, 10 wards in the city haven’t reported a single case in the last 10 days, while nearly 85 wards have been reporting less than 10 cases on average.