Palike is on a testing spree

Sets a record with 60,109 tests in a single day


The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has created a record by ramping up testing in Bengaluru. On Friday, the civic agency had tested 60,109 people, the highest so far. On March 25, 2020, BBMP had conducted 1,169 tests.

Experts have welcomed the BBMP’s move of testing more as they feel this is an essential tool in the ‘TTT’ (test, trace and treat) formula.

After covid reached Bengaluru last year, BBMP conducted 8,824 tests in April, 35,000 in May, 71,000 in June, 2.19 lakh in July, 5.42 lakh in August, 8.4 lakh in September, 12.8 lakh in October and 14.6 lakh (that’s been the peak so far) in November.

Since then, testing had been on a decline with 12.52 lakh tests in December, 11.29 lakh in January with February seeing the lowest testing

of 7.27 lakh.

This month, 10,35,040 tests have been conducted so far. However, the tests have not been uniform across the BBMP zones. An analysis of testing from March 18 to 24 in the city showed that the highest testing was done in Bommanahalli Zone (49,355) while the lowest was in Dasarahalli Zone (12,600).

In case of Karnataka, the lion’s share of testing is being done at Bengaluru. As per Thursday’s report, 54 per cent of the total tests done in the state was in Bengaluru while in other districts it ranged from 5,000 to just 586 in Haveri.

The highest testing done in the state was in the first week of January with 1,34,173 people being tested while the lowest testing in the recent times was on February 20 with just 45,868 being tested.