Covid: 791 new cases recorded in city

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

On Thursday, 791 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded, taking the total number of active cases in the city to 4,199. According to the BBMP, 435 patients have recovered from the infection during the same period. Among those tested positive, 38 were children below nine years of age and 84 were aged between 10 and 19. A total of 18,195 tests were conducted on June 16 and the positivity rate (for the last seven days) stood at 3.26%

Around 7,780 children, aged between 12 and 14, got their first dose and 9,075 children in the same age group were given the second dose.
In the 15-18 years group, 800 got the first and 2,231 got the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination. Precautionary doses were given to 4,488 people.
BBMP’s Mahadevapura zone tops the list with 12 active clusters, followed by Yelahanka (4) and Dasarahalli (2). Around 31 patients were hospitalized and no deaths were reported due to Covid-19 on Thursday.

Health dept vigil

The health department has instructed officials of the Health Department in all the districts to carry out surveillance at healthcare facilities, laboratories and the community at large. It has also given out guidelines to ensure genomic sequencing of positive samples.
The State Commissioner for Health and Family Welfare Services has also said that Sero Survey in children aged 6-14 must be completed in time to enable early analysis and reporting. The instructions were part of the state’s revised surveillance strategy for COVID-19

The strategy includes monitoring infection among international travellers arriving in the state. The guidelines have instructed random screening of 2% of passengers in each incoming flight by means of RT-PCR tests. Passengers tested positive will have to undergo observation or quarantine.
The Commissionerate has also instructed district health officials to report Influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) from OPDs. Severe Acute Respiratory Infections from all district hospitals must be monitored, the guidelines read.

Laboratories testing for Covid-19 have been asked to upload their data on the ICMR portal. Large outbreaks and unusual presentation of cases will be monitored at the community level through reporting of cases and investigating outbreaks.
Wastewater surveillance has also been recommended in the revised strategy. The commissionerate has sought data on the daily numbers of positive cases, number of hospitalized patients and those in ICU and on ventilator support from the districts.