In less than 10 days, another COVID-19 cluster was detected in Bengaluru with 10 cases being reported from an apartment complex, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said on Monday, 22 February. According to a statement, the cases were reported from an apartment complex in Bellandur of Mahadevapura Zone.
This apartment complex comprises nine blocks housing 1,500 people. Based on the findings, six blocks of the apartment have been declared a containment zone by the Bengaluru civic body, while other three blocks are 200 metres away and have not reported any case among their residents.
"These 10 cases came to light between 15 February and 22 February. Nine mobile teams were deployed, 500 RT-PCR samples taken and results are expected by Tuesday," Prasad said in the statement.
He added that the sanitisation has been carried out in the apartment premises and a health team with four doctors has been deployed.
On 13 February, the first cluster was found at the Manjushree Nursing College near Kaval Byrasandra in the city, where 42 of 210 students tested positive. Most of them are from Kerala.
On 15 February, another cluster was found as 104 residents of an apartment complex in Bommanahalli, tested positive, with 96 of them above the age of 60 years. The apartments house 1,052 people.
As reported by TNM, Karnataka reintroduced stricter measures of COVID-19 management on 16 February in the wake of a sudden rise in cases, including these two clusters. The rules also said that if a cluster of five or more people are identified in places such as hostels and educational institutions, those places will be declared ‘contamination zones’ and additional steps, such as retesting after seven days, will be taken.
Along with those rules, it was also mandated that all those arriving in the state from Kerala, including those checking into hotels, resorts, hostels, home stays, and dormitories, will have to compulsorily produce a negative RT-PCR certificate that is not older than 72 hours.
(This story was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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