As many as 3,338 people infected with the novel coronavirus are untraceable in Bengaluru, NDTV reported on Saturday. The number accounts for over 7% of the total number of cases in the city, which has seen a surge in infections over the last couple of weeks. A lockdown had been imposed in the city from July 15 to July 22.

“We could trace some of the positive patients with the help of the police but 3,338 are still untraceable,” Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said. “Some of them provided wrong mobile number and address at the time of giving samples. They disappeared after getting positive results.” Authorities in the city have now decided to ask for government-issued identity cards and verify mobile numbers before collecting samples for testing.

The city administration said it has no way to trace the missing individuals, and does not know if they quarantined themselves after getting tested.

“We have to ensure that all the infected persons have to be traced and quarantined,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan said. “We have prioritised it so that they could be traced and isolated.”

Karnataka on Saturday recorded over 5,000 infections for the third day in a row, of which Bengaluru accounted for 2,036. The total number of cases in the state capital is now 43,503. As many as 72 more people died in Karnataka on Saturday, including 30 in Bengaluru.