In the wake of the emergence of cluster outbreaks in the city and a few other places, a team of officials from the Union government has asked the State to tighten vigilance at the Kerala and Maharashtra borders and also step up contact tracing.
The Central team comprising a Joint Secretary from the Health and Family Welfare Ministry and two doctors arrived in the city on Monday to review the COVID-19 safety precautions and control measures in the city.
Team visits
The team that had visited the testing facility at the Kempegowda International Airport, a cluster at the Sambhram College of Engineering and Genomic Sequencing laboratory at NIMHANS on Monday, visited the Tumakuru District Hospital and some vaccination centres on Tuesday. It held a review meeting with the Chief Secretary and other officials from the Health Department and the BBMP on Tuesday. Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar told The Hindu on Tuesday that the Central team had expressed satisfaction over measures initiated by the State in containing the cluster outbreaks. “The team has asked us to further tighten vigilance at the borders of Kerala and Maharashtra and step up contact tracing,” he said.
Contact tracing
Pointing out that the State was now tracing eight primary contacts and four secondary contacts, the Minister said the team had asked to increase this to 20 primary and 15 secondary contacts. “Except these suggestions, the team lauded our containment efforts and testing measures. If required, we will further increase the number of daily tests conducted.”
Health Commissioner K.V. Trilok Chandra said the team had asked the State to ensure strict enforcement of pandemic-appropriate behaviour.
