Bengaluru: Doctors to visit every house to screen people for COVID

To detect COVID-19 cases, the city civic body – Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) – would launch a programme involving doctors making door-to- door visits, Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka said on Monday.

The Minister, who held a meeting with officials of the civic body to assess the COVID-19 situation, said the programme would be launched on August 16. To start with, two wards would be selected in each Assembly segment, he said.

A team of doctors, paramedics and ASHA (accredited social health activist) workers would visit every house and screen the households.

For this, an app has been developed wherein the patients would be screened for any symptoms and co-morbidities.

The data would be uploaded on the app, the Minister’s office said in a press statement.

The doctors would collect details whether the residents were vaccinated, the statement said.

In case of any symptomatic patients, on-the-spot tests would be conducted and medical kits provided, it said.

“We have also decided that a team of doctors will reach a household within six hours of a patient testing positive. We will provide medical kits also and they will have the names and phone numbers of the doctors,” the statement said.

The patients, quarantined at home, can contact the doctors any time and this would help the doctors monitor the infected, it said.

Gradually, the door-to-door visits by doctors would be extended to all the 29 lakh houses in Bengaluru, the statement said.

Initially, around 108 teams would be despatched, it said. Noting that the daily COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru have been around 400 over the last 40 days, the Minister said,

“Currently, 181 patients have been admitted to the government hospitals and 462 to private hospitals.”

A huge number of cases were being reported from Yelahanka, Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli constituencies, and most of the cases were from apartments.

“We will ask marshals and health officers to keep tabs on apartments and if anyone is stopped, criminal action will be initiated. We will come up with detailed guidelines soon in this regard and keep tabs on hotels also,” he said.

“We will review the COVID-19 situation after August 15 and take tough decisions if the situation warrants,” he added.

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