Bengaluru: The Bengaluru civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has revealed that at least 242 children have tested positive for Covid-19 between August 6 and 10, reigniting fears of the third wave of the virus affecting children.
According to the data revealed by the BBMP, out of the 242 children that have tested positive, 106 are below the age of 9 years while 136 are between 9 to 19 years of age. Among the children, 123 are girls and 119 are boys.
In addition to the already detected cases, officials from the health department have warned of an exponential rise in the cases among children in the coming days.
The development comes at a time when the country is still reeling from the devastation wrought by the second wave of the virus that almost crippled the medical infrastructure of the country.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) had last month warned people of serious consequences if the virus is not controlled in some parts of the country. However, experts in India have been dismissing the notion of a third wave affecting children more, citing a lack of evidence for the same.
Also read: Third-wave may not come if COVID norms are followed, vaccination done properly: AIIMS director
Karnataka has been recording around 1,500 cases of the virus since last week. Earlier, to check the spread of the virus in the state, the state government had imposed a weekend curfew across Karnataka's border districts, in addition to the night curfew implemented across the state.
The government also tightened security along its borders with Maharashtra and Kerala. Authorities made it mandatory for people entering Karnataka from Kerala and Maharashtra to produce a negative RT-PCR report.
