Covid vax drives affected in flood-hit districts

PUNE Before the floods hit western Maharashtra’s districts, the health administration was worried about these districts reporting a much higher positivity rate

PUNE Before the floods hit western Maharashtra’s districts, the health administration was worried about these districts reporting a much higher positivity rate. However, now with the floods affecting these same districts , health infrastructure has also faced the brunt.

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The testing and reporting of Covid-19 cases has been hampered and areas flooded with water have also seen a fall in vaccinations. However, with the forced isolation of people due to the floods there could be a possible fall in numbers visible after 10-15 days, say experts.

As of Wednesday, the overall positivity rate is higher than the state average in Kolhapur, Pune, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara and Sindhudurg. Most of these district also include the ones that saw the highest amount of rainfall in the past few days. Dr Sanghmitra Phule, civil surgeon at Ratnagiri, which saw massive rainfall in the district especially in Chiplun, said, “The testing and vaccination surely affected a few blocks, but only those that were submerged under water. Even in the relief camps we did carry out testing and anyone found positive was immediately isolated. However, even before the floods hit our district, we had carried out extensive Covid-19 testing in the most affected blocks, including Chiplun.”

Satara also saw heavy rains. Mahabaleshwar which recorded its highest recorded rainfall in 24 hours also saw Covid-19 testing hampered. Dr Sachin Patil, district health officer, said, “Not all the areas in the district were hampered, however, we did have testing centres in some districts, where there was heavy rainfall, hampered. However, the impact of whether or not the isolation of people due to floods has brought down the spread of infection will be evident in the next 10-15 days, which is the period of incubation in case of Covid-19. Now it would be too early to report any trends in case of the impact of floods in the district.”

In view of the hampered vaccination drive in the flood-affected districts, the state government has sent vaccines to Ratnagiri, Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara and Raigad. Dr Vivek Patil, the district immunisation officer in Sangli, said that they have received the latest vaccine stock today. “On Monday, Sangli district received over 65,000 doses of the vaccine and on Wednesday, district received over 78,000 doses of the vaccine. The vaccination drive, which was impacted in some districts, will resume soon. We even vaccinated people in the temporary shelters and prioritised those who came from these villages.”