Bengaluru civic body hints at partial lockdown to curb Covid

Bengaluru: In the wake of an increase in the number of containment zones in the city, Bengaluru Municipal Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasada on Friday hinted that the government has no option but to enforce at least partial lockdown in Bengaluru if people fail to adhere Covid protocols.

He told to the reporters that they were contemplating recommending the Karnataka government to close down gyms, swimming pools, community alls, open-air gyms in parks and theatres.

Prasada said that bringing down the occupancy in cinema halls to 50 per cent and leaving alternate seats vacant was also another likely recommendation.

Preliminary discussions had already taken place between Bengaluru civic body officials and top officials of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, he added.

The civic body chief said that five zones -- east, west, south, Mahadevapura, and Bommanahalli -- have been reporting more than 100 cases a day.

Citing the example of a family which was asked to be home quarantined but went to visit an ISKCON temple and later tested positive, he said: "How can such gross negligence be tolerated? If the same thing continues, then there is no option but enforce lockdown."

Civic health officials found two families in the Yelahanka zone to be at the heart of two clusters, and both had defied home quarantine rules before testing positive for the infection.

"All people staying in their apartment building were asked to follow strict home quarantine after a person living in the same building tested positive on March 8, a week after he returned from Kerala," a senior BBMP official said.

However, the family broke quarantine rules to visit the temple on March 9, and developed symptoms on March 14.

Meanwhile, BBMP identified five more containment zones in the city - Govardhana Residency, Abhijna Building in BEL Layout, 1st Main Chikkabommasandra (all three in Yelahanka Zone), Admiralty Avenue (East Zone), and Shuva Krupa Nilaya (Dasarahalli Zone) - on Thursday.