Bengaluru: Apartment turns Covid cluster as 80 residents test positive

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has declared an apartment located Whitefield as COVID cluster after 80 of its residents have tested positive. Prestige Shantiniketan, a massive apartment complex in Whitefield in the city, has over 3,000 flats and 10,000 residents.

According to BBMP officials, the Corporation is trying to test as many residents as possible. So far, 1,500 residents have been tested. As of now many residents, who have tested positive, had travel history to other States like Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Also, COVID-19 appropriate behaviour (CAB) had allegedly been given a go by.

The Corporation recently issued a notice to the same apartment after cases were reported since April 4. But the residents reportedly failed to respond to health workers' request to share data. The BBMP also stated that some residents were reluctant to take a test, according to a report in a daily. The apartment complex has 24 towers with around 150 to 180 apartments in each of them.

The civic body has arranged for micro containment in the towers where COVID-19 positive cases have been reported. That apart, marshals have been deputed to supervise and ensure that CAB is adhered to.

However, the residents' association has rubbished the allegations stating that swimming pools and party halls had been shut down even before the government prohibited club houses.

Questioning the credibility of BBMP's testing, the association claimed that many residents, who had been declared by the civic body to be infected with the virus, had got a negative result in later tests conducted by private hospitals. The number of COVID-19 cases also includes support staff, who have been counted as residents.