BBMP to conduct 6,000 Covid tests in a day

BENGALURU, Karnataka: As Covid cases are on rise in countries around the globe, as precautionary measures, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to increase the number of tests per day from 1,500 to 6,000.

Tushar Girinath, Chief Commissioner, BBMP, said that earlier, the civic body was conducting 1,500 tests per day, but in pursuance of recommendations of the Karnataka Health Department, the civic body is now conducting 6,000 tests per day.

Chief Commissioner informed on Monday, January 2, “Earlier, we used to conduct 1,000-1,500 tests in a day. The government has asked us to increase the target to 5,000.” The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has recommended civic body to conduct 5,000 tests everyday. Girinath assured people that in case of spike in Covid cases, the urban local body will increase per day tests. He also requested people to get themselves tested if they find any symptoms of the disease.

Dr K V Thrilok Chandra, Special Commissioner for Health, said that people with a history of comorbidity, symptomatic cases and people with symptoms of illnesses including ILI (influenza-like-illness) and SARI (severe acute respiratory infection), are being tested at the primary health centres in the area of BBMP.

Similarly, Dr M K Sudarshan, Chairman, TAC, said that no precautionary measures would be required and probability of a spike in covid cases would be significantly reduced if the prescribed guidelines are followed properly.

Considering the surge in infection in several countries, the Government of Karnataka has made seven-day quarantine mandatory for people arriving from several countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. Last week the state made the mask mandatory, especially during the New Year celebration. If passengers from the above-mentioned countries visit Karnataka and are found symptomatic, they will be quarantined at the predetermined health facilities for clinical management. Once they are confirmed positive for Covid their samples will be sent for genome sequencing. And their primary and secondary contacts will also be quarantined within 24 hours of identification.