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New restrictions imposed in Pune district
The collector has also asked for an assessment of Covid care centres, dedicated Covid hospitals, ventilators and bed preparedness in case of any drastic spike in the numbers
In view of rising Covid cases the civic and rural bodies will increase testing and contact tracing, according to guidelines issued by Rajesh Deshmukh, Pune district collector, on Friday.
The collector has also asked for an assessment of Covid care centres, dedicated Covid hospitals, ventilators and bed preparedness in case of any drastic spike in the numbers.
“Any area where about five to ten positive cases are reported will be declared as a containment zone,” said Deshmukh. Pune city has had zero containment zones since January 1 this year.
Other guidelines include surprise inspection checks by incident commanders, heavy penalty on those not wearing face masks in public places and sealing of property if Covid appropriate behaviour is not followed.
The guidelines apply for rural Pune, cantonment bodies, two municipal corporations and councils.
“We are currently focusing on implementing the standard operating procedure’s (SOP’s) which have been issued in circulars and guidelines issued earlier. We are not mulling any further lockdown as this decision needs to be taken by authorities at a higher level and through mutual agreement of various local authorities in Pune,” he said.
“We are also increasing virus testing especially in containment zones and among super spreaders,” he said.
The guidelines also call for contact tracing of at least 20 contacts for every positive case.
If any person is found without a face mask he will have to pay a fine of ₹500 for the first time and ₹1,000 if found without a mask for the second time.
Institutes with large public gatherings not following Covid appropriate behaviour including shopping malls, function halls, lawns, coaching classes, private schools, aided and unaided schools/ colleges, universities, theatres, gymnasiums, religious places, gardens, would be sealed if they continue to violate the norms after the first notice served by the incident commander’s surprise inspection, according to the guidelines.
Those travelling inter-district or inter-state must isolate themselves at homes in case of any flu-like symptoms.
