Officials in Bengaluru have identified a new cluster of coronavirus in the city. Three individuals from Hampinagara, who were in contact with patient 465, a 45-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with SARI (severe acute respiratory infection), have been found to be positive for COVID-19. This takes the total number of cases in Karnataka to 500.
Hampinagara comes under Bengaluru South. The first cluster before this was identified in Bengaluru’s Hongasandra, where 185 primary contacts and more than 60 secondary contacts of P419 have been identified. These people have all been quarantined in hospitals and hotels nearby.
Earlier on Thursday, after 10 people were confirmed to be positive in Hongasandra in Bengaluru, officials had set up a containment zone for 100 meters around the Bommanahalli ward in which Hongasandra is located. On Friday, another 11 people in the area who had been in contact with patient 419 (a 54-year-old migrant worker) were also confirmed to be positive for COVID-19, taking the total number of cases in the ward to 21.
In areas which have been declared containment zones, people are not allowed to step outside their homes for any reason except for medical emergencies.
Meanwhile, Kannada news channel TV9 reported that the BBMP staff sprayed the Hongasandra locality with disinfectants and ‘chemical spray’. Officials were seen spraying the houses which were locked, and reportedly broke into the houses of those who were away in quarantine, in order to disinfect the interior of the houses. This includes those who have been reported as positive cases of coronavirus, and even the houses of the secondary contacts, whose test results are yet to come through.
Visuals put out by TV9 show the BBMP staff members breaking down the locks and the doors of the people who are away on quarantine with an iron rod. TV9 reported that the residents were upset about this and that they would have handed over the house keys if the government had informed them beforehand.