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Anyone being tested will have to furnish ID plus OTP sent to mobile
BENGALURU:
What with the stigma attached to Covid-19 and also the grim reality of unavailable/exorbitantly priced ambulances and hospital beds, people who have tested positive, especially asymptomatic cases, are resorting to evasive measures like furnishing fake addresses and/or fake mobile numbers.
Officials estimate that at least 4,500 positive cases in Bengaluru have gone off the Covid ‘radar’. In a city that is slowly and surely being overwhelmed by mounting infections — regularly notching up four-digit cases daily since the last few weeks — that presents not only a tracing headache for officials but is a ticking time bomb with the potential to spread the infection uncontrollably at the community level. A related challenge is to trace and quarantine primary contacts of positive cases.
Over to the cops
Now, DCP-led teams have been formed in all eight BBMP zones to zero in on positive cases who have furnished false contact details.
Speaking to the media, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said the mobile numbers provided by infected persons would be passed on to the police teams.
ID proof mandatory
He said any person getting a test done would have to provide an address or ID proof and also provide the OTP sent to the mobile for confirmation.
“With this methodology, it will be easy to track down Covid patients,” the civic chief said.
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