E-Paper
Four districts in Maha report single digit new Covid cases
PUNE In the past week, multiple districts in the state have reported zero, or just single- digit new Covid-19 cases
PUNE In the past week, multiple districts in the state have reported zero, or just single- digit new Covid-19 cases. These districts include, Bhandara, Gondia, Nandurbar and Wardha.
The combined positivity rate in these districts has also stayed less than 1%.
In addition to these districts, the districts of Amravati, Akola, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gondia, Hingoli, Jalgaon, Jalna, Nagpur, Nanded, Parbhani, Washim and Yavatmal have reported less than 1% combined positivity rate.
The overall positivity rate in the state is at 3.1% for between August 2 and August 8.
The districts of Bhandara, Gondia, Nandurbar and Wardha have reported four, two, four and eight new Covid-19 cases, respectively, between August 2 and August 8.
The RTPCR positivity is 0.1% for three of the districts. Wardha reported a 0.5% RTPCR positivity for the same week.
Prerna Deshbhratar, district magistrate and collector, Wardha, said, “In April we saw a peak when the fresh case count went up to 1,200 a day. During the peak we appointed a nodal officer for ambulance and oxygen management. We also trained our doctors to ensure that there is a judicious use of Remdesivir. We also insisted on admissions through reference, because we found that many people occupied oxygen beds even though they did not actually need it. So we had a helpline number for the district, wherein people could describe their symptoms and then get a bed. After the peak in May, we imposed a strict lockdown. Even essentials were kept restricted so that the movement of people is under control. Now Wardha has only 11 active cases as of Tuesday.”
Back in March and April, Amravati was one of the first districts to report a spike in Covid-19 cases, hinting at the start of the deadly second Covid-19 wave. However, Amravati currently is in a much better situation with less than 54 new Covid-19 cases between August 2 and August 8, which took its combined positivity rate to 0.4%.
Dr Dilip Ramnale, district health officer at Amravati said, “During the peak we focused on contact tracing at least 15-20 contacts of every new Covid-19 patient. During the first wave, if someone you know tested positive people would get themselves tested immediately. However, in the second wave, people did not cooperate for contact tracing. They limited it to only their family members and so we tested their neighbours also to ensure every possible contact is traced.”
“As of now our focus is on vaccination and we are working to dispel the fear among the tribal population. Initially, there was no cooperation, especially in Melghat. So we vaccinated the sarpanch first and conducted a drive like a festival and vaccinated as many people as possible. We have a target to vaccinate at least 2.2 million beneficiaries and have vaccinated 0.9 million, both first and second dose.”
