An apartment complex in Karnataka capital Bengaluru has been declared a containment zone after 103 of its residents tested positive for coronavirus. According to district officials, the surge in Covid cases was recorded just days after two marriage anniversary parties were organised in the residential society.
The new coronavirus cluster has emerged in South Bengaluru's Bilekhali area's SNN Raj Lakeview apartments.
The district administration had started a mass testing drive last week in the apartment complex after around two dozen cases emerged from there in a couple of days.
"We saw a sudden upsurge in the number of cases - on February 11th, 7 cases were reported, on February 12th, 17 cases were reported. On February 13th, the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) rushed to the apartment to investigate further and ramp up testing...399 houses were surveyed. 1,190 people were tested out of which 103 have tested positive. One out of 103 is admitted to the hospital," a senior district official told NDTV.
"We were informed that there were two anniversary parties that took place on the 6th and 7th of February," he added.
Most of those who tested positive are below the age of 50 and are asymptomatic, Dr Krishnappa, the medical officer investigating the area, told NDTV.
BBMP Joint Commissioner, Bomanahalli Ramakrishna, told NDTV that the apartment has been fully sanitised, and each resident has been advised home isolation until further notice.
India, which had been reporting close to one daily lakh cases last year, has been recording under 10,000 daily cases for the last few days. The Centre had last month declared that the country - the second worst-hit after the United States - has flattened the coronavirus curve.
Experts, however, have warned people against dropping their guard against the virus because of the discovery of mutant strains abroad.
Karnataka is currently the third worst-hit state after Maharashtra and Kerala.
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