Bengaluru sees largest COVID-19 spike to date, 196 new cases reported

Bengaluru's stellar reputation for COVID-19 containment took a bruising on Sunday after a staggering 196 new cases and at least three new fatalities were reported.

This took the city’s total COVID-19 tally to 1,272.

By far the largest category of new patients were those with symptoms of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI). As many as 102 such people tested positive for COVID-19 from 5 pm on Saturday.

The next largest category is 67 positives, who fall into the “contact under tracing” segment.

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The lion’s share of the new cases (154) falls within the areas under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits.

However, health officials did not respond to queries for information on where the new cases were discovered and under what circumstances the patients contracted the disease.

However, police sources said at least 15 of the new cases are members of the Kalasipalya police station, which has become a COVID-19 epicentre. Eight personnel had previously tested positive at the station.

In all, according to officials, a total of around 55 police personnel have tested for COVID-19 in Bengaluru since the start of the outbreak.

Among the newly identified living cases are 25 primary contacts of known COVID-19 cases. At least two are contacts of inter-state travellers from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Another two are primary contacts of two babies.

One is Patient 8829, a 5-year-old boy, who was infected by an 11-month-old baby boy in Whitefield. The child’s parents had recently returned from Delhi. The other is Patient 8863, a 38-year-old man, who apparently contracted the disease from a one-year-old baby boy diagnosed with ILI.

A shocking eight of the new Bengaluru cases are contacts of Patient 2030, a 58-year-old man in Hassan, who tested positive on May 24 but was discharged on June 3.