PMC, dist administration stress on more tests

Pune: With the Covid-19 tally once again rising, Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol has instructed the municipal administration to increase testing and ensure availability of beds in the city

Pune: With the Covid-19 tally once again rising, Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol has instructed the municipal administration to increase testing and ensure availability of beds in the city.

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Municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar said, “If needed, PMC will need to announce micro-containment zones in the city. Almost everything is open in Pune, but if cases start increasing in specific areas, we will need to announce micro-containment zones.”

On Wednesday, Pune district reported 864 new cases with four Covid-related deaths.

Mohol, along with leader of house Ganesh Bidkar and other office-bearers, on Wednesday, held a review meeting with Kumar and the administration.

Till last week, Pune’s Covid-19 positive cases were below 200 per day. Since last week, the numbers are increasing and every day at least 300 patients are testing positive.

“Though the pandemic situation is under control, the rise in cases is alarming and we need to gear up. The active case tally has also shot up to 1,700 from 1,200,” said Mohol, adding, “In the light of this, I have instructed the municipal commissioner to increase testing in the city. Testing numbers are enough up to 2,500 per day. We need to do both RTPCR and anti-gen tests if needed.”

“All hospitals must increase bed numbers. Government hospitals have enough beds, but we must be prepared to handle the situation,” Mohol said, adding, “There are total a total of 1,162 Covid beds are available in the city’s government hospitals, including Sassoon. If needed, beds will be added in these hospitals.”

The mayor also instructed the police and the PMC to strengthen action against citizens not wearing masks.

“Covid-19 is not gone . It’s here and if we all wear masks, we definitely will able to control it,” he said.

Pune collector Rajesh Deshmukh has also ordered the strict enforcement of Covid standard operating procedures (SOPs) while setting a target of 10,000 tests per day – in PMC, PCMC and rural areas.

“There has been a slight increase in positive cases although there is no need to panic. As cases have been exponentially increasing in other districts such as Amravati, we had a video conference with the chief minister and discussed the situation,” said Deshmukh. “We will be focusing on tracing and testing. Currently there are around 6000 tests per day. We have now set a target of 10,000 tests per day,” Deshmukh said.