Bengaluru's ‘bicycle mayor’ hopes to make city cycle-friendly post lockdown

Transport

On World Bicycling Day (June 3), a fresh campaign called upon Bengaluru’s citizens to ditch their cars and bikes and buy bicycles.

Prajwal Bhat

On March 29, during the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdown, a group of 75 volunteer cyclists came together in Bengaluru to deliver essentials to elderly persons living in different areas of the city. The volunteer group 'Relief Riders' responded to calls made to a helpline number publicised in the city and delivered grocery items and medicines. "The riders clocked around 1,400 km helping people in the city get access to various items whether it was vegetables from the nearby grocery store or essential medicines they needed to procure," Sathya Sankaran, a sustainable transport activist and Bengaluru's 'Bicycle Mayor' tells TNM. According to these relief riders, bicycles could be the solution for the fears of commuting in the city during the pandemic. "There is less occupancy in public transport now and people will naturally turn to private vehicles and bicycles could be a very effective tool in a pandemic," Sathya adds. The people behind the relief riders' initiative are connected to BYCS, an Amsterdam-based network of international cycle mayors which work with businesses, governments and nonprofits to promote cycling in cities. On World Bicycling Day (June 3), a fresh campaign was started to make Bengaluru 'cycling-friendly' by BYCS and Jhatkaa, a campaigning organisation. The petition sought steps from the government and from citizens to make Bengaluru a haven for cyclists. These steps included declaring bicycle shops an essential service, shopping streets as walking or cycling only to provide space for physical distancing and to allow bicycles to move freely without passes even during a lockdown.  And officials are listening. For example, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao surveyed a 17 km area along the Outer Ring Road in Bengaluru and decided to declare it as a cycle lane this week.  "As Commissioner, I’m passing a Magisterial order declaring these 17 kilometres as cycle lanes. And anyone who enters this inadvertently is likely to be prosecuted by law. We want to have some legal muscle with regard to the cycle lanes," Bhaskar Rao said during a webinar by the  Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) India. The police commissioner also said that officials intended to put bollards and signages along the 17 km stretch, and white markers at junctions. The campaign also asks citizens to ditch their cars and bikes and buy bicycles. "The first plan is to get people to buy bicycles. The act of spending on a bicycle is the first step in taking to cycling and it gets people over a big barrier. After people have bicycles, they are open to the possibilities of where they can cycle within the city and people won't just be showing up like tourists at events like World Bicycling Day. Instead, they will actually have bicycles with them," says Sathya. The campaigners have also roped in nine bicycle retailers in Bengaluru for the same. Sathya's words are echoed by citizens and cycling enthusiasts in Bengaluru. "We need to prepare ourselves to live with the virus for the next year or longer. I don’t see any better mode of transport than a cycle; affordable, sustainable, offers physical distancing naturally," activist Srinivas Alavilli says. He also adds that more people taking to cycling will push the civic administration in Bengaluru to provide better infrastructure for cyclists. In addition to the health benefits of cycling, there is also the advantage of reducing Bengaluru's pre-lockdown traffic congestion and deteriorating air quality. "Consequent to the lockdown, Bengaluru’s air pollution rate has dropped by over 40% just with vehicles off the road. We know it's impractical to continue this way, but with over 40 of the world’s major cities planning to go cycle and pedestrian-friendly, it is time our city show the same intelligence and pro-environment action. We must not miss this window of opportunity to rethink our roads which will be difficult if things go back to old normal,” states the petition. Last year, the campaigners provided bicycles to police officials at the Cubbon Park police station. The move was aimed at reducing the use of vehicles in a green space like Cubbon Park and also to make it easier for pedestrians to approach police officials. With a renewed campaign this year, the campaigners hope to add more bicycles on Bengaluru's roads and improve conditions in Bengaluru for those who take to cycling

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BBMP says flat numbers of home quarantined can be publicised within apartments

Coronavirus

The meeting touched upon many issues that the RWAs and apartment federations have to follow.

TNM Staff

PTI-Bengaluru

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) led by Commissioner BH Anil Kumar on Wednesday held a virtual meeting with members of resident welfare association (RWAs) and Bangalore Apartment Federation (BAF) over relaxations during COVID-19 Unlock 1.0. The meeting stressed on precautionary measures as more people are coming back to the state, from abroad and other states. In the meeting, the RWAs and apartment residents were told about certain protocols to follow to ensure the check of the spread of the disease especially with regards to quarantine procedures for returning travellers. Apartment associations and the RWA were given permission to publicise within their community the flat numbers of people in quarantine along with when the quarantine period will end. However, they cannot reveal the name or telephone number of the quarantined persons in order to protect their identities. The attendees were reminded that all interstate (except from Maharashtra) and international returnees will have to be put in home quarantine for two weeks. All Maharashtra returnees have to be in institutional quarantine for a week. Apartment residents were also told that if one or more persons test positive, all flats on the floors above and below that particular apartment, will be marked as containment zone. For non-apartment buildings, a 100 metre radius will be demarcated as a containment zone. For a densely populated area with multiple infected people, a larger area (a cluster) is a containment zone. Residents in all these containment zones will not allowed to step out of their homes. On Tuesday, Karnataka saw the highest spike in cases with 388 COVID-19 cases reported from across the state, of which 12 were from Bengaluru. In the recent days, cases in Bengaluru have risen steadily, though not in an alarming manner and has forced the BBMP to draw containment zones in more than 30 wards. Standard precautionary measures The associations were also encouraged to carry on with thermal screening at gates to keep a tab on symptomatic patients. Social gatherings are still not allowed while masks and physical distancing will remain compulsory. The associations were also told to keep a note of the nearest fever clinic or health centre.  

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Aarogya Setu app mandatory, regulated entry: What malls in Bengaluru are planning

Coronavirus

Malls in Karnataka will reopen on June 8 for the first time since mid-March.

Soumya Chatterjee

Malls in Karnataka will open for business from Monday, June 8 as announced by the Karnataka government for the first time since March 15, barring those in containment zones. But with the growth of COVID-19 infections still continuing, mall operators will be strictly enforcing certain standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure that adequate physical distancing and sanitisation protocols are maintained. Mall operators told TNM that the shopping experience post-lockdown will be quite different from the existing norms. Operators of Prestige Forum Malls, Garuda and Pheonix Malls said that they will only allow customers who have a green status on their Arogya Setu app. Most of the SOPs that the malls are following are the same as those formulated by the Shopping Centre Association of India, which was submitted to the Karnataka government ahead of the state government’s nod to open the malls.  Safety and hygiene TNM spoke to multiple mall operators and it is clear that masks, the Arogya Setu app, thermal screening and frequent hand sanitisation facilities inside the premises will be a common feature. Speaking in favour of the government’s decision to green-light the opening of malls, Mohammed Ali, who is the chief executive officer of Prestige Forum Malls, said, “Malls are mostly a controlled environment and from our side we will maintain hygiene and safety as it has always been our top priority. We have increased the periodicity of the cleaning processes that use to do. Further we have purchased some automated machinery so that best practices followed across the world can be maintained.” The company operates six such malls across Karnataka—- four in Bengaluru and one each in Mysuru and Mangaluru. Ali further said for Forum Malls, there will be disinfection tunnels that all customers and vendors have to go through on their way into the mall. Chickpet MLA Uday B Garudachar, who owns multiple malls in Karnataka, including Garuda Mall in Bengaluru, said that if a customer is not wearing a mask, the mall will give them masks for free and educate them on precautions. Apart from masks, thermal screening and other standard measures, Gajendra Singh Rathore, senior centre director for Phoenix Marketcity Bengaluru, says that digital transactions will be preferred over cash transactions. He added, “The trend of people walking into malls or sitting around in the malls as part of their social activities will largely reduce at least for the time till we get a vaccine for the disease.”  Restricted access Garudachar said that prior to this pandemic, malls would see massive footfalls and even more than a lakh visitors on a single day during the festive season. To ensure physical distancing, malls will be forced to regulate the entry of visitors. On this, Ali said, “Entry will be restricted to one-third capacity of the mall accounting 150 sq ft for each person.” Koramangala Forum Mall, for example, will not allow entry of more than 2,500 persons at a time. Same mechanism will be followed by the shops themselves, depending on the size of the store. The mall will also soon launch a booking mechanism for customers. “Only five persons, as opposed to the full capacity of 15, will be allowed in lifts. On escalators, people will be allowed to stand on alternate steps. Similarly, for toilets, every alternative urinals will be sealed,” Ali added. Phoenix Marketcity will have an app-based registration process to enter the malls and customers registered in the app will be preferred over others. Once the entry capacity is reached, further entry will be closed. Change in mall experience Ali says that for food courts in Forum Mall, including UB City, there will be a mobile app through which customers can order and pay for food from different kitchens while sitting at their table to ensure minimum contact. Phoenix Marketcity’s Rathore says cinema and food, beverage businesses will also be forced to reinvent their business models to reassure customer safety. For instance, cinemas may be allowed to book 50% of their seats, whereas eateries will operate at 30% capacity, with two at a table to ensure no person sits in close proximity to the other. Movie theaters will not be allowed to reopen in June.  Some stores may do away with trial room facilities. For exchange of purchased items too, there might be restrictions. Returned clothes will be put back on the shelves only after they are disinfected. Effect on business and livelihoods In its memorandum to the Karnataka government, the SCAI had said that the shopping mall industry provides livelihoods to one lakh persons through direct and indirect means in the state. The three mall operators TNM spoke to claimed that despite loss of business, there have been no major job losses. Rathore said, “In our business, the only revenue is rent and due to the lockdown, it has come to zero. There is a threshold limit on which we can run without business and so far, the limit has not been exceeded. We have neither laid off any of our employees nor have we reduced their pay. Only thing is that the salary has been delayed for some.” Garuda Mall’s Uday said that they also have not fired anybody. Staff members who earn more than a lakh are being given only half of their normal salary. Expressing hope that business will bounce back to normalcy, the operators said global trends, especially in southeast Asian countries, suggest that the overall consumption won’t go down more than 20-30% from the status quo. Rathore noted that certain categories will do better than others. “Leisure, food, tech and cosmetics will likely have good business as usual. But party-wear and high-end luxury wear sales will likely take a hit,” he said.

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Status check: How Karnataka’s Udupi plans to tackle rising COVID-19 cases

Coronavirus

Udupi district has seen a steady increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the past week, making it the worst-affected district in Karnataka.

Prajwal Bhat

As much of India began relaxing restrictions allowing people to move freely and businesses to operate, Udupi, a coastal district in Karnataka is experiencing a spike in hospitalisations driven by the rising number of people returning from Mumbai, a city overwhelmed by coronavirus cases.  In the past week, Udupi has recorded 290 coronavirus cases, a number that steadily rose through the week before peaking on Tuesday when 150 new cases were recorded, all of whom are people who returned from Mumbai. The cases recorded on Tuesday took the total number of cases reported in Udupi to 410, making it the district with the highest number of cases in the state.  But despite the rising cases, little seems to have changed regarding the lockdown rules in effect in the district. On Wednesday morning, close to usual traffic was seen on the main road linking Udupi and Manipal in the district despite overcast conditions due to the onset of the monsoon.  The reason for the spike in the district was attributed to the thousands of migrants who returned from Mumbai in the past two weeks. In fact, on May 15, the district had recorded just 3 COVID-19 cases, all of whom tested positive in March. Among the 345 active cases currently in the district, 98% of the patients returned from Mumbai. In the past two weeks, over 8,500 people returned to the district from Maharashtra and the results of 2,366 patients are still pending.  "The spike is not due to cases which were started in Udupi. Mumbai residents who are mostly working as coolie workers in hotels returned home, leading to a spike here. It is our dharma to allow them to come home since they are the people of this state and this government will provide treatment for them," Dr Sudhakar K, Medical Education Minister of Karnataka told reporters in a press conference in Udupi. The minister was on his first visit to the district since the lockdown was imposed in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, and his first stop was the Kasturba Hospital in Manipal, which is testing COVID-19 samples in its laboratory.  Increase in testing capacity The lab, which is currently testing 500 samples every day, is set to expand its testing capacity by installing three additional RT-PCR machines in the laboratory. "We will be able to test more than 1,000 samples in a day going forward," says Dr Avinash Shetty, Medical Superintendent of Kasturba Hospital in Manipal.  Health officials in Udupi are also testing samples at the laboratories in Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru, KS Hegde Medical Academy in Mangaluru, Yenepoya Medical College in Mangaluru and the Virus Diagnostic Laboratory in Shivamogga.  In addition to increasing its testing capacity, officials in Udupi will alo turn two more government hospitals in Kundapur and Karkala in the district into dedicated COVID-19 hospitals. Until now, patients who tested positive for the virus were admitted in the TMA Pai Hospital in Udupi. This hospital will now concentrate on treating critical cases including pregnant women, elderly persons and people with comorbidities.  Additional COVID-19 hospitals "We will be shifting the patients in the hospitals in Kundapur and Karkala to nearby health centres and turning them into dedicated COVID-19 hospitals. The hospital in Kundapur will be for people who test positive from Kundapur and Byndoor regions while the hospital in Karkala will be for patients from in and around Karkala," Sadashiva Prabhu, Udupi Additional District Commissioner told TNM. Another COVID-19 healthcare centre will be established at the Lalitambika Guest House in Kollur to treat asymptomatic patients while the SDM Ayurveda Hospital in Udyavara in the district has also been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 hospital. Dr Sudhakar further announced that 2,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits will be sent to Udupi district due to the spike in cases.  Quarantine protocol to continue But despite the measures taken to fight the spread of the virus, Dr Sudhakar stated that there would be no change in the quarantine protocol in place in the district. Currently, people returning to the state from Maharashtra are placed in institutional quarantine while those returning from other states are placed in home quarantine.  Some of the patients from Udupi who tested positive over the last few days had completed their institutional quarantine period and returned to their residence. The worry is exacerbated by the fact that a majority of coronavirus patients in the state are asymptomatic.  But when asked about the fact that returning migrants were going home to their villages, possibly carrying the virus, Dr Sudhakar responded, "Those who leave institutional quarantine will remain in home quarantine. We will identify those in the district who are at risk and ensure that they are tested." Residents of Udupi with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Influenza-like-Illnesses (ILI) will be identified in a census-like exercise by the district administration. They will also be tested for the virus.  But the district administration is reluctant to keep people in institutional quarantine till their test results come back due to concerns over the spaces available to quarantine all those who return to the district. The MLAs in Udupi led by Halady Srinivas Shetty, the legislator from Kundapur constituency, are keen on sealing off homes of the people who return to the district from Maharashtra as opposed to quarantining them in government-designated facilities. "Role of public important"  "We have limited facilities to quarantine people returning to the district. There are practical difficulties because around 12,000 people can be quarantined at a time but if more people come in, we don't have the facilities," Dr Sudhakar admitted. A total of 1,120 beds are available in the district, officials say. Along with the onset of the south-west monsoon in Udupi, the rising coronavirus cases has led to concern among the residents of the district. "If people experience cough and cold, they will immediately worry whether they have contracted the virus," said Abhijit, a resident of the district.   The district administration and the state health department conceded that the active participation of the citizens is required in the fight to contain COVID-19 cases in Udupi, urging people who develop symptoms to isolate themselves and immediately report to fever clinics.  "The role of the public is important in fighting the virus and hopefully, in the coming weeks, all those who tested positive in Udupi recover from the virus and this can once again be a green zone," Dr Sudhakar said. "Our work may not be foolproof, but we are watching this dynamic situation and we will remain flexible over changing guidelines whenever necessary," he added.

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Not safe to reopen schools in July: Parents unhappy with Karnataka govt proposal

Education

Many parents are also unhappy with online classes for kids in lower classes.

Theja Ram

Image for representation

The Karnataka government on Tuesday announced that it is considering opening government and private schools from July and invited suggestions from both schools and parents. As the number of COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the country, both schools and parents are opposed to reopening in July. The Association of Karnataka Unaided Schools pointed out that opening schools in the month of July would be too risky and unsafe as many schools across the state are not prepared to handle the situation. No SOPs issued for reopening of schools Without any concrete guidelines from the government, many schools are clueless about protocols and the infrastructure required to conduct classes. “We are completely unprepared to reopen in July. We don’t know what safety protocols to follow after reopening. Without issuing any guidelines, or a set of rules or at least a framework outlining the standard operating procedure for schools, how do they expect schools to prepare?” Shashi Kumar, President of the The Association of Karnataka Unaided Schools told TNM. He further stated that the government must issue clarity regarding payment of fees, the safety measures to be taken. “There is a big dispute though this is a welcome move. Holding classes in shifts is very impractical and it would be a complete mess. We have been asking the government to hold talks with stakeholders for a long time and now they are giving only one month for us to discuss and put these systems in place. We need to know methods for sanitising schools, whether we must install safety tunnels etc,” he added. Worried parents Many parents say that even if schools reopen in July, they would not be willing to send their children. Several parents, who have even written on Education Minister Suresh Kumar’s Facebook page said that they fear this is the wrong time to reopen as the number of cases in Karnataka are increasing steadily. They also voiced concerns about whether teachers would be able to ensure that the children would maintain physical distance. “Children do not listen. They will be excited to see their friends, especially those in lower classes like those children in primary and middle school. My son is in Class 3 and it is true that kids his age cannot be controlled when they are among friends. I would rather my son take the year off and start again the next year instead of putting his health at risk,” said Aruna Mohan, whose son studies in St Joseph’s Boys’ High School. Several parents also voiced concerns about the fear of infection as 90% of cases in Karnataka are of those who are asymptomatic. “Using a thermometer will not be enough. Who’s to know whether an asymptomatic carrier is there? And reopening schools when the cases are peaking is not a good idea,” said Pramod Prabhakar, father of a Class 7 student from Vibgyor High in Horamavu. Online classes and logistical issues Aruna maintains that in addition to logistical issues including bad internet connectivity, loss of video and blurred voices, online classes are taking a huge toll on not just students but parents as well. “When my son started online classes yesterday (Tuesday), all the kids were talking to each other, the poor teacher had to keep shouting. Most of the time, the audio and video is bad. It will be okay to start classes for high school students, who have the ability to focus. A 6-year-old or a 7-year-old does not have that attention span,” she added. Pramod said that both him and his wife are working from home and using their laptops. The burden of online classes includes buying new gadgets for each child so they can continue online classes. “Should we work or let our children attend classes? Assignments have to be sent online. When so many people are losing jobs and suffering pay cuts, how can we invest in this? What about children from economically weaker sections? How will they cope? This is highly impractical. School may start in late August or September for high school and much later for primary as the syllabus is not that hard,” Pramod added. Parents say that schools are not allowing children to attend online classes if they have not paid the fees. This, despite the Karnataka government’s advisory asking schools to not collect fees until the reopening date is announced. “When my son’s classmates are studying he can’t and we did only what the government asked us to do? How can schools do this? Until now the government has not asked any stakeholders what they think. Now, they are giving us a one month deadline. How is this fair?” Soumya, a mother of a class 4 student from Vibgyor High said.

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NLS Bengaluru alumni are helping fly migrant workers home, here’s what you can do

Migrant workers

A fourth flight for migrant workers from Bengaluru to Raipur is scheduled to take off on Thursday morning.

Geetika Mantri

The fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown implemented to curb it have been severe, especially for the marginalised, such as migrant workers. However, in this unprecedented and difficult time, there have also been some heartening stories of kindness, of people going out of their way to help those in need. One such example emerged at the end of last month, when the alumni of National Law School in Bengaluru got together to fly home 180 migrant workers from Ranchi who were stranded in Mumbai on a special Air Asia flight. As word spread, more people stepped in to help. The second flight was sponsored by Godrej, also on the Mumbai-Ranchi route; and the third from Mumbai to Bhubaneshwar by parents of Mumbai’s Ascend International School. And now, the alumni are looking to raise money for 10 more flights to send around 1,800 migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country back to their home states. CK Nandakumar, a Bengaluru-based advocate and NLS alumnus, tells TNM that the initiative started from a discussion in the Mumbai and Delhi alumni groups. “Many of us felt that we need to do more, especially since we are fortunate and have resources. The government is doing what it can, but given that India is such a large country, it’s not always possible to have direct connectivity on some routes.” “We were inspired by the philosophy of NLS’s founder director, Madhava Menon. He would say that lawyers should be social engineers. It’s the path that he showed us that we are trying to follow here,” he adds. With this, the alumni started reaching out to their networks and are now working with several other organisations that are working at the grassroot levels. “We have groups of volunteers that are doing a lot of the coordination work. Some of them are arranging transport to get migrant workers who wish to go home from other districts to Bengaluru so that they can take the flight. We are also verifying their IDs, requirements like food, temperature checks and so on. Other volunteers are working with labour departments to get the appropriate approvals, permissions and No Objection Certificates. The government departments have been quite supportive of our efforts so far,” Nandakumar says. A fourth flight is scheduled from Bengaluru to Raipur in Chhattisgarh for Thursday morning at around 8 am. It is being sponsored by Ajay Bahl, the co-founder and managing partner at AZB & Partners, a Delhi-based corporate law firm. His involvement is yet another example of how people have stepped up once they came to know of what the NLS alumni was trying to do. Some of the NLS alumni are also working with the alumni of BITS in coordinating with the Akshaya Patra Foundation to arrange food for the migrant workers’ journeys home. “It’s completely voluntary, and some people are working day and night. But we are all buzzing with energy and spurring each other on,” Nandakumar says. The NLS alumni has a fundraiser on Milaap now, where it is seeking contributions to sponsor 10 more flights for migrant workers. They are calling it Mission Aahan Vihan, and are hoping to pull this off in three weeks. You can see the crowdfunding campaign and contribute here.

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Why Bengaluru with a population of 1.2 crore has just 385 COVID-19 cases

Coronavirus

According to experts and officials in the government, the measures taken in Bengaluru – tracing, tracking, testing and treating – were similar to other cities. The difference was in implementation.

Arun Dev

For a population of approximately 1.2 crore, Bengaluru city has had just 385 reported cases of COVID-19 infections as of June 1, way less than what cities like Chennai and Mumbai report in a single day.  In comparison, Chennai has 15,770 cases, Mumbai has 40,877 cases, and New Delhi has 20,834 cases as of June 1. Out of Bengaluru's 385 cases, 237 have recovered, and only 136 people are under treatment for the virus.  How did Bengaluru swing this miracle? Was it sheer luck, or is there a successful ‘Bengaluru model’ that worked? According to experts and officials in the government, the measures taken in Bengaluru – tracing, tracking, testing and treating – were similar to other cities. The difference was in implementation.  Where Sarkar Trusts Experts  The first smart call taken by the Karnataka government was allowing experts to run the show without political interference. The bureaucracy did not question or ignore the medical experts advising them.  Dr Giridhar Babu, who is part of the ICMR's research task force on Epidemiology and Surveillance, and a part of Karnataka state's Technical Advisory Committee, told The Quint that the independence given to the technical committee in Karnataka, is something other states should replicate. “In Karnataka,the driving force (against COVID) was the health department. We never had an instance where they turned down our suggestions. Even if an idea was counter-intuitive, after deliberations, they implemented it. The trust placed in the experts was astonishing.” Dr Giridhar Babu  (Here is comparison of state wide COVID-19 test per million population, and comparison with nationwide testing figure. (Source: Department of Health, Karnataka government) Effective Contract Tracing Bengaluru reported its first COVID-19 case on 8 March. In the days that followed, Karnataka's health department along with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) prepared a list of 2,666 people who had come in touch with the 40-year-old techie who had arrived from the US. For over a month, these primary and secondary contacts were sent into home quarantine and were monitored for symptoms. (Image credit: PTI) While the number of primary and secondary contacts for the cases that followed were not as high as the first case, the Health Department conducted detailed investigations in each case. "In some of the earlier cases, we traced contacts as far back as one month," said an official at the COVID-19 war-room. Over 90 percent of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka are asymptomatic, and credit for identifying them goes to competent contact tracing. (Source: Department of health, Karnataka government) As of June 1, out of 3,408 cases in Karnataka, the origin of 2,132 have been traced to domestic travel. The source of infection for 879 have been tracked as contacts of COVID-19 patients. Only for 267 cases, the contract tracing is either underway, or the contact information is not available. Apart from contact tracing, testing the right people helped the state keep a check on the spread. On 15 April, Karnataka had decided to test all persons suffering from influenza and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). To help identify cases, the health department asked all medical stores to take the details of those buying medicines for these specific ailments. Apart from this, a massive door to door survey is underway across the state. So far, the survey has covered 72 percent of the state’s households. Technology, Naturally Close to 2 lakh personnel from various government departments form the core team undertaking contact tracing. A similar number of staff are on standby in case the numbers go up. Since multiple districts were involved in the process of contact tracing, bureaucratic processes had led to delays initially. “Earlier, if a primary contact was in one of the districts, we had to send a report to the district collector to track it. This information was then sent to the tracking staff on the ground. This was time-consuming,” said a war room official. To resolve the matter, the state launched an app. Whenever a new case is reported, and the patient shares contact details, the details are fed into this app. “Now, since the information is available on the cloud, respective officials are alerted directly and sooner for tracking. This app cuts down all the bureaucratic processes and delays,” he added. Getting 'Containment Zones' Right The inability to control clusters like Dharavi in Mumbai, Koyambedu market in Chennai and the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi, led to these respective city administrations losing control over COVID-19. But Bengaluru was able to control its containment zones more efficiently. One of the first clusters in Karnataka was a pharmaceutical company in Mysuru, which produced 74 cases. The entire district was under one of the strictest lockdowns, and within 56 days the whole district was declared COVID-19 free. In Bengaluru, the BBMP takes pride for (arguably) introducing the concept of completely sealing off an area. Padarayanapura, a crowded locality in west Bengaluru, was identified as a high-risk area. On April 10, BBMP physically sealed off the area, and only health workers were allowed to enter. (An entry point to Padarayanapura during lockdown.) The decision paid off as the Padarayanapura reported 23.6 percent of total COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru, as of May 22. “It was a big task providing daily rations to each household and conducting the screening. But we did it and ensured no one from the area got out,” said a senior police officer. In the last week of May, BBMP conducted around 400 random swab tests in Padarayanapura. All the results were negative. Apart from effectively sealing off containment zones, Bengaluru had one of the most strictly implemented lockdowns. “The police had closed around 50 percent of the main roads in Bengaluru to discourage traffic. Checkposts were set up across the city, which was effective in reducing people's movement,” said Bhaskar Rao, Bengaluru police commissioner. What Next After Unlock 1.0? Dr Babu, who is part of Karnataka government's technical committee, says reopening the lockdown is inevitable and strong surveillance is the way forward. He suggests that three steps would help sustain the low prevalence of coronavirus in Karnataka, especially in Bengaluru. Step 1: Expanding the symptoms “We need to expand the definition of COVID symptoms. We need to include loss of smell, loss of taste, weakness, muscle pain etc. If anyone has two of these or existing symptoms, we should home isolate them.” Step 2: Prevent cluster formations “We need to ensure there are no cluster formations. Nearly 80 percent of the cases across the world are caused by 20 percent of people, in clusters. So, all large gatherings like marriages, conferences, working in closed places, etc, should be avoided over the next few months.” Step 3: Identifying super spreaders “Third step is to identify the super spreaders quickly. If we can successfully home isolate the most symptomatic, we can contain the super spreaders. A strong surveillance strategy would play a key role in this.”

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