Six new containment zones have been identified in Bengaluru in just a span of two days and this is largely due to the rise in the number of cases in the city. In just three days, 67 new cases were reported in Bengaluru. The largest spike was on May 30, where 33 cases were reported in the city. With a total of 357 cases and 115 active cases in the city, officials say that they expect the numbers to increase and thus, so will containment zones, BBMP officials say. 

“The number of cases is expected to increase due to the ease in restrictions in the next few days,” said Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner BH Anil Kumar. 

BBMP’s figures state that 41% of all the active cases in Bengaluru were reported in Shivajinagar after a 42-year-old housekeeping staff of a hospital tested positive for the novel coronavirus. So far, 57 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Shivajinagar alone, all of which were primary or secondary contacts of the housekeeping staff, otherwise known as P653. 

Padarayanapura, one of the first wards to be declared a containment zone, has the second-highest number of active cases at 22% of the total active cases in the city. 

“The situation does not seem to not improve in Padarayanapura. We are doing a lot of randomised tests here and more and more people are testing positive. Right now, we don’t know how many malls are in containment zones because the rules have changed. But if they are, they won’t be allowed to open,” said Dr Manoranjan, BBMP Health Officer for West Zone. 

With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, there will be a restriction on opening commercial establishments in these areas as well. Except for Shivajinagar, Mangammanapalya, SK Garden, Padarayanapura and Hogasandra, all other 27 containment zones in Bengaluru do not have more than five cases of COVID-19. 

The government has decided to open malls, religious institutions and places of worship and other commercial establishments, except for movie theatres and bars and restaurants inside malls, from June 8. “Since the number of cases is expected to go up, commercial establishments in these areas will also not be allowed to operate. The task is to identify contacts quickly, which is the challenge,” Anil Kumar added.