Over 3,000 persons triaged a day in Bengaluru: Civic chief

‘Healthcare professionals checking up on people in home isolation’

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s healthcare professionals are doing tele-triaging and checking up on those in home isolation, Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said here on Thursday.

“We have put in place 318 triaging teams and over 3,000 persons triaged a day. Citizens should, to the extent possible, stay at home. Anyone with symptoms should get tested; we have also ensured that the results are declared within 24 hours,” he said.

A citizen, who used a home testing kit and tested positive, took to Twitter and stated that hours after uploading his results into the website (as mentioned in the home testing kit), he got a call from the civic body, enquiring about his condition. “I’m blown by such deep integration right from kit manufacturer down to local municipality and then their war room to reach out to patients within 24 hours,” he tweeted.

Another citizen tweeted that not only did the BBMP call soon after he tested positive, but also provided a medical kit with prescriptions. A doctor also called once a day to check on his status, he said.

A resident of Whitefield said that within six hours of getting positive results, a BBMP doctor called to enquire about health, travel history if any and vaccination status. Civic personnel also called up for regular follow-ups, she said.

Mr. Gupta said that several citizens had appreciated the BBMP’s proactive response. “We have zonal war rooms, and control rooms at the Assembly constituency level. We have over 300 personnel engaged in calling those who have tested positive for COVID-19 and checking up on them regularly,” he said.

With regard to those using home testing kits, he said it was difficult to guesstimate the number of people taking these tests. “The only way we will know is if the person uploads his/her result, which then gets uploaded on to the ICMR portal, which is then passed on to the civic body. However, we will not know if the person has tested positive using a home testing kit,” he said and added that as responsible citizens, all those who use a home testing kit, must upload their results – negative or positive - on the website (mentioned in the kit).