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At 11%, Pune district has higher Covid positivity rate than state
With Covid-19 cases on the rise, Pune district has reported a higher test positivity rate than the state average, according to health officials
With Covid-19 cases on the rise, Pune district has reported a higher test positivity rate than the state average, according to health officials. The current weekly test positivity rate in Pune district is 11% while that in the state of Maharashtra is 8.16%, officials said. Reportedly, Pune district’s test positivity rate in the week from March 6 to 12 was 5%, which increased to 9.2% in the week from March 13 to 19, and then 11.1% in the week from March 20 to 25.
Pune district has been the worst affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic since the beginning of the fresh outbreak. The district has reported a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases since the month of March. Although most of the cases are constituted by patients with mild symptoms, there has been a steady increase in hospitalisation as well. Whereas private hospitals are testing only high-risk patients with virus symptoms, said Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials.
Dr Suryakant Devkar, assistant health officer, PMC, said that the weekly positivity rate of Pune city, too, is above 11% and cases have started increasing however patients have mild symptoms. “There are a total of 12 private hospitals and two government hospitals in the city where patients are undergoing treatment for Covid-19. Currently, 29 patients are admitted to different private hospitals for treatment, out of which five are in the ICU, and one is on ventilator support,” Dr Devkar said.
According to the heath bulletin, Pune district reported 160 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday while Maharashtra reported 694 fresh Covid-19 cases on the same day. Out of the 160 new cases in Pune district, 78 are from PMC, 41 from Pimpri-Chinchwad, and 41 from the rural areas of Pune. Pune district currently has 773 active Covid-19 cases while the state has 3,016 active Covid-19 cases.
Abrarali Dalal, chief executive officer (CEO), Sahyadri Hospitals, said, that the number of patients has started increasing this month but most of them have mild symptoms. “As many as four patients had tested positive for Covid-19 in the month of February while 65 tested positive for Covid-19 in the month of March. There are three Covid-19 patients hospitalised. All are stable and admitted to our Hadapsar unit,” Dalal said.
“People are generally coming with symptoms like cold, cough, fever, body pain and weakness. Patients with comorbidities like diabetes and heart disease or anybody having advanced age with symptoms is advised a Covid-19 test,” Dalal said.
At Ruby Hall Clinic, Hinjewadi, the doctors claim that the number of patients with influenza has also increased along with Covid-19. There are three patients admitted to the hospital for Covid-19 while around 12 patients have been admitted for influenza. Sudheer Rai, CEO, Ruby Hall Clinic, said, “The number of patients has increased but only the high-risk patients are tested by us for infection. Most of the patients are managed at the OPD level as they have mild symptoms. A surge in cases has been witnessed since the month of March.”
Doctors at Jehangir Hospital said that not a single case of Covid-19 had been reported in February but now the hospital had started getting cases. “There is confusion over Covid-19 and flu patients as the symptoms are similar. Currently, there are around five patients admitted to the hospital infected with the virus. The number of people coming for Covid-19 has also increased. However, there is not much panic about the virus infection in the public, the doctors said. They have advised people to wear masks.
