Three children from Bengaluru’s Padarayanapura ward tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday. According to the Karnataka Health Department, two of the boys are aged 10 years and 8 years and are contacts of patient 554, who is a resident of Padarayanapura. Another boy aged 10 years, who is a primary contact of patient 555, another Padarayanapura resident, also tested positive for the virus.
As on Thursday afternoon, Padarayanapura has a total of 54 cases of COVID-19. This ward has reported the highest number of cases in Bengaluru and is the worst-affected area in the city.
Speaking to TNM, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Health Officer for West Zone, Dr Manoranjan said that the three children are from two different families, who lived in the same building as patients 554 and 555.
Patient 554 is a 20-year-old man, and patient 555 is a 28-year-old man, both of whom tested positive for the virus during randomised tests that were conducted in Padarayanapura on April 30.
Soon after these two patients tested positive, five densely-populated streets in Padarayanapura were identified for randomised testing. In addition, the BBMP had quarantined primary and secondary contacts of patients 554 and 555 on May 1.
“One 10-year-old boy and another 8-year-old boy are brothers and live in a house located above patient 554’s. Patient 555 lives in the same street and is a neighbour of patient 554. One 10-year-old boy, who lives in the same building as patient 555 tested positive too,” Dr Manoranjan said.
Two other adults, aged 40 and 45 years, who are primary contacts of patient 554, also tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday. These two patients lived in the same building as P-554, Dr Manorajna said. Padarayanapura has a total of 54 cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday afternoon.
Padarayanapura is one of the 20 containment zones in Bengaluru with the highest number of positive cases in Bengaluru. Padarayanapura was one among the two wards in Bengaluru that were sealed off. The other ward that was sealed -- Bapuji Nagar, however, is not a containment zone any longer according to the BBMP website. Bengaluru has so far reported 189 cases of COVID-19 with 100 active cases.