279 micro-containment zones in Pune city

PUNE There are 279 micro-containment zones in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits as of Saturday

PUNE There are 279 micro-containment zones in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits as of Saturday.

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Micro-containment zones are declared by ward offices if there are a minimum of five active cases in a building and if there are a minimum of 20 active cases in a housing society.

“Currently, there are 279 micro-containment zones in the city. These are mostly housing societies. We have overall increased testing. Our daily test count has reached up to 20,000. Last year maximum testing rate was 7,000 per day,” said Dr Sanjeev Vavre, assistant health officer, PMC

On March 26, there were 206 micro containment zones in Pune.

Ward office orders state that if a building or a society is declared as a micro-containment zone, then certain protocols have to be followed by the residents of that building or society. They are expected to track their oxygen level, children, the elderly or people with comorbidities are expected to get immediately tested if the oxygen level drops below 94. Also, the ward office has to be notified if any resident is hospitalised elsewhere even for non-Covid diseases. Observance of social distancing and mask are mandatory.

“In my zone currently the most number of micro-containment zones are housing societies. When we get the contact information of the patients we issue letters to the chairman of the society. Our war rooms call the patients. If a Covid patient is found to be roaming outside then there is provision to file a complaint against him,” said Nitin Udas, deputy commissioner of zone 2.