Bengaluru sees spike in COVID-19 cases as people continue to jump home quarantine

Karnataka on Friday registered 8,960 Covid cases, taking the state’s tally of positive cases to 3,18,752. Of the total positive cases, Bengaluru registered the highest number of positive cases at 2,721, taking the state capital’s total tally to 1,21,449. Mysuru and Ballari have witnessed a huge spike in the case with 726 and 484 Covid positives respectively.

The spike in cases is being attributied to the violations made by the people put under home isolation.

In Mahadevapura zone alone, a volunteer told Deccan Chronicle that on an average 200 people jump home quarantine. The contact tracing team of the BBMP takes down the travel history and contacts of the COVID-19 positive patients and then the home quarantine squad enforces the home quarantine.

"We have registered over 60 complaints with the police. In one case, a patient who is supposed to be under the home quarantine took a bike and challenged us to stop. Out of 100 such cases we will meet nine people who are abusive,"  a volunteer on the condition of anonymity said.

Sometimes we call the police to deal with the residents who harass the volunteers. "The problem is that even police cannot take any action against them. They are equally helpless. Even they are vulnerable. The only thing that they do is to get the person tested again," the volunteer.

N Manjula, zonal commissioner, Mahadevapura zone said that out of the many under home quarantine, a few come out to be rude.

“If a person is tested positive, the medical officer gets to know and informs the positive cases on call and tells the next course of action, which includes home isolation or the hospital. Sometimes people do not respond on calls and then we have to make a physical visit to homes,” she said.