560 super-spreaders test positive in rural Pune under special drive

PUNE Amid the surge in Covid cases Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) has undertaken a drive to identify the super-spreaders in rural areas and more than 1

PUNE Amid the surge in Covid cases Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) has undertaken a drive to identify the super-spreaders in rural areas and more than 1.5 lakh people have been identified in the last ten days. Also, after selective testing 560 of them have tested positive at 67 places and now have been isolated.

HT Image

Super-spreaders are the people who have a much higher rate of social interaction than the common people such as shopkeepers, grocery store owners, social workers, traders and politicians.

“We could not test all of them because it takes time and costs money. We tested only those who required to be tested after the screening as they had some minor symptom and had proximity to hotspots. We will continue the drive,” said Ayush Prasad, chief executive officer, Pune ZP.

On March 19, Pune rural reported 902 new cases and two deaths, according to the state health department.

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), meanwhile, has not started such a drive yet. PMC commissioner said that PMC is currently focusing on contact tracing and more testing.

“We have not started the drive yet, but we may start it. We are currently focusing on contact tracing and testing. We have conducted more than 14,000 tests on Saturday,” said, Vikram Kumar, PMC commissioner.