Even as the perception that the number of Covid-19 cases is going down has led to people lowering their guard and more commercial activities opening up, Pune city is witnessing a rise in the number of active cases. In the last two weeks, the number of active Covid-19 cases in Pune city alone has jumped from 647 to 823. While the number of critical cases has not shown any drastic change due to patients resorting to temporary solutions and over-the-counter medication according to doctors, the surge in active cases has prompted the civic body not to shut down jumbo centres, yet.
State health minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday hinted that while the Covid-19 task force is in favour of opening primary classes (Classes 1 to 4) as the number of cases is going down, a large number of new cases are being seen in the 11 to 20 years’ age group.
While the number of cases continued to fall post- Ganpati, Navratri and Dassera despite the huge gatherings witnessed, the situation seems a bit alarming post-Diwali. As per Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) data, in the past two weeks between November 8 and 24, the number of active Covid-19 cases has risen by 176. However, the number of critical cases has not changed during this time.
Dr Pradeep Suryavanshi, paediatrician with multiple hospitals in the city, said, “We are not seeing a rise in the number of children admitted to hospitals but we do get to know from their parents much later that they took off-the-counter medication which suppressed the symptoms at the time which could re-emerge later.” Despite a lower hospitalisation rate however, the PMC is not yet firm on shutting down the jumbo centres and is keeping its hospitals ready in case of any surge in Covid-19 cases in future.
Ravindra Bhinwade, additional municipal commissioner, said, “As of now, the jumbo centres are shut as there is no need for them as we are also opening up our other hospitals which were earlier only dedicated to Covid-19 patients. While the number of hospitalised patients has gone down, we hope we don’t have to restart the Covid-19 centres. However, if the number rises, we can always restart them and we have our staff on standby. As far as shutting down or dismantling the centres is concerned, the decision will be taken by the deputy chief minister during the Covid-19 review meeting and we will act accordingly.”
{{/usCountry}}Ravindra Bhinwade, additional municipal commissioner, said, “As of now, the jumbo centres are shut as there is no need for them as we are also opening up our other hospitals which were earlier only dedicated to Covid-19 patients. While the number of hospitalised patients has gone down, we hope we don’t have to restart the Covid-19 centres. However, if the number rises, we can always restart them and we have our staff on standby. As far as shutting down or dismantling the centres is concerned, the decision will be taken by the deputy chief minister during the Covid-19 review meeting and we will act accordingly.”
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