At least eight people, a majority of whom are men, have been identified as ‘super spreaders’ of COVID-19 in Karnataka. The Department of Health and Family Welfare defines super spreaders as those who have spread the novel coronavirus to at least 10 or more contacts.
Data shows that Karnataka’s super spreaders together infected as many as 226 patients, mainly primary, secondary or third-party contacts. As on Thursday, these contacts comprised at least 40% of the total COVID-19 in the State. The maximum number of people infected because of one patient is in the Nanjangud cluster, after a pharmaceutical company employee tested positive in March. A total of 76 people have been infected in that cluster. This includes 48 of that person’s primary contacts, 24 secondary contacts, and four third-level contacts.
Of the eight people identified, two persons each are from Bengaluru Urban, Kalaburagi, and Mysuru. Besides this, there are one each from Belagavi and Bagalkot. Seven of the eight super spreaders are men.
The second highest number of people infected by a super spreader — after contact tracing was undertaken by the Department of Health and Family Welfare — is from Kalaburagi. The infection spread after a 60 year-old woman passed it on to at least 32 of her contacts.
The State government and the war room is keeping close vigil on each patient and their contacts. “One never knows who may become a super spreader and hence, everyone and every contact (even before he or she tests positive) has to be accurately identified and isolated in quarantine,” said an official.
The State government is actively identifying each and every contact within 24 hours of a patient testing positive. “Once they are identified, we immediately put them in quarantine. This has been our core strategy to contain the transmission of COVID-19 in the State,” the official added.
An official working with the department said they have begun random testing of people in clusters where several patients have been infected. In Bengaluru, random tests were conducted in the Padarayanapura and Hogasandra clusters. “Conducting random tests helps us contain the spread of the virus and ensure that people who test positive are isolated at the earliest,” said a BBMP official.
