Bengaluru: Patients switch off phones, abscond after Coronavirus result

Bengaluru: While the BBMP has ramped up Covid testing across the city, the suspected infected patients are giving a slip to the civic authority, thereby posing a grave risk of further spread of virus in the city.

According to sources, several suspected novel coronavirus patients have not been cooperating with the BBMP officials resulting in the civic authority's efforts to contain the further spread of the virus in the city. Highly placed sources said Covid patients in Mahadevapura zone, for instance, have switched off their phones and absconding from the city after they were positive for the infection.

"We have been aggressively testing the citizens. When we inform that the test results, they immediately switch off their phones. In some cases, some Covid positive patients even destroyed their SIM cards. Tracing the people who were tested positive for Covid has become a problem. They must be roaming around freely. Several people who were tested positive must be having alternate phones. We could track some of the patients at their residences, but many of them must have absconded from the city. Some of them went to their native places," a volunteer working with the BBMP said.

The volunteer said in such a situation, the BBMP takes the police assistance who in turn call up respective district health officers to track the Covid patient in their native places. "It has become a major challenge to track the infected patient. This is crucial in order to contain the spread of the virus. This is done through call tracing. The police trace the patient based on the last signal they have received from the phone. The difficulty is that the police cannot keep Covid positives in the jail because it will jeopardise their lives. It is a complete waste of manpower. They become dangerous for other citizens. When the test results show positive, they argue with us and seek proofs. We test them again and then shoot the video," the volunteer stated.

With the opening of malls, restaurants, eateries and market places the BBMP Mahadevapura zone has commenced testing camps. "We have increased the testing. We are conducting around 2,000 tests each day. Of the people who test positive, 80% of them will be asked to be in home isolation. The rest whose condition is serious will be sent to the hospitals for treatment. We do not coerce anybody to get tested or forcefully send them to the hospitals. We have taken the help of the Resident Welfare Associations and Bangalore Apartments Federation," the volunteer said.

Over 1,000 volunteers from the apartments have registered for the citizen quarantine squad programme under which testing has been undertaken in several apartment complexes. The BBMP officials admit that their volunteers were abused while enforcing quarantine regulations. "Awareness campaigns were launched to sensitise people that the steps taken by the government are for their good. We have identified some vulnerable pockets like slums where the infection could spread faster. Since the poor cannot afford testing, we are approaching them. We are trying hard to contain the virus," a senior BBMP official said.

We have been aggressively testing the citizens. When we inform that the test results, they immediately switch off their phones. In some cases, some Covid positive patients even destroyed their SIM cards. Tracing the people who were tested positive for Covid has become a problem. They must be roaming around freely. Several people who were tested positive must be having alternate phones. We could track some of the patients at their residences, but many of them must have absconded from the city. Some of them went to their native places A volunteer