Busy public places make BBMP West Zone a big Covid hotspot

The BBMP’s western zone is the new Covid-19 hotspot with 212 cases, 17 deaths, and over 100 containment zones as of Sunday. The zone consists of some of the densely populated areas in northern and western Bengaluru.

Hephsiba Rani Korlapati, the special officer of the BBMP Covid-19 war room, explains that cases are high wherever there are high mass congregations, mobility and economic activity.

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As against Yelahanka or Bommanahalli, both of which are predominantly residential areas, BBMP zones where there are markets, medical establishments such as dialysis centres, maternity homes and clinics, bus stations, offices and hotels have reported more cases. As of Sunday, the BBMP is yet to map the location of 2,058 patients to their ward and zone. B

ut Govindarajnagar, Gandhinagar, Rajajinagar, Mahalakshmi Layout, Malleswaram and Chamarajpet — which are all in the western zone — have busy commercial areas have already witnessed many cases.

Malleswaram has witnessed 40 cases and Dasarahalli 24 so far.

BBMP Medical Officer (Malleswaram division) Dr Suresh Rudrappa said: “Areas like Sampige Road, roads from Malleswaram 15th Cross to 17th Cross, have many eateries. People move about in droves in these areas. If people close out of their own volition, it would be good. But now, we can close only if it is a containment zone.”

The containment zone has been reduced from a street to a single establishment now. “We cannot curtail social interactions anymore. It’s in the hands of the people to wear masks and maintain social distance,” he added.

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Dr Darshan, Medical Officer, Nandini Layout, said ward 43 which comes under his jurisdiction had seen 10 cases and it appeared to be a case of community transmission.

“There is community spread. We can no longer establish where they contracted the infection. During contact tracing, they do say they’ve been to the local market among other places but we can’t say for sure,” he said.

Dr Savitha, the medical officer of the Subedarpalya urban primary health centre, said an area near KN Extension in her jurisdiction had seen 11 cases. “The spread no longer makes sense because people who were confined to their homes have also got it,” she added.

One case was of a BMTC bus conductor. Another was the secondary contact of a local nursing home. Some patients claim they did not even step out but still got the infection. “It seems like a case of community transmission,” she said.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), community transmission “is evidenced by the inability to relate confirmed cases through chains of transmission for a large number of cases.”