Despite a robust recovery rate, the rise in COVID-19 cases continued unabated in Pune district, with 236 new cases and six fatalities reported on Thursday. Its case tally now stands at 6,879 and death count at 306, according to figures released by the district administration.
“As many as 236 cases were reported since Wednesday night till Thursday evening, with 220 of these from Pune city, seven from Pimpri-Chinchwad and nine from the Pune rural region,” said District Health Officer Bhagwan Pawar.
Divisional Commissioner Dr. Deepak Mhaisekar said that of the district’s total case tally, 2,912 were active cases, while 3,661 people had been discharged till date. Around 210 cases were critical. He said Satara district has reported two more deaths and Solapur one more, to take their respective death counts to 15 and 65. “Along with Pune’s total fatalities, the death toll in Pune division — which includes Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Solapur districts along with Pune — has now surged to 391. Satara, which has reported 422 cases till date, has 281 active cases at present, while Solapur district, with a total of 695 cases, has 323 active cases,” Dr. Mhaisekar said.
Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said while the district’s death rate had come down to 4.45% from 5.15% some days ago, new deaths and cases were a worry, especially with 1.48 lakh people who had returned from Mumbai to the district’s rural parts.
“At present, Pune city has 2,419 active cases, Pimpri-Chinchwad has 290 active cases, while the rural areas have around 250 active cases. While the death rate may have come down, the fatalities have yet to stop. We have started audits and analysis of the fatalities, besides counselling patients at Sassoon General Hospital,” Mr. Ram said. He said 103 mobile vans have been engaged at 10 places in the city’s containment zones to collect swab samples. Cases have also been increasing outside containment zones in the past few days, he said.
“Outside containment zones, cases have increased by 30-35% in the last few days. These are primarily cases in medical establishments like the Ruby Hall Clinic or Jahangir Hospital, what we term as ‘cross infection’ in private hospitals,” Mr. Ram said.
Pune zilla parishad chief executive officer Ayush Prasad said despite the rise in cases in rural areas, local transmission has been prevented to a great extent thanks to early detection efforts on ground. “Around 7,000 officials, including ASHA workers, are surveying daily for co-morbid conditions during their intensive screening processes, which include house-to-house surveys. Swift screening has prevented the infection spreading to other parts in rural areas from COVID-19 patients coming from other cities like Mumbai,” he said.
