E-Paper
With 46 deaths, Pune ‘flu centres’ now front-line defence in Covid-19 attack
Pune, as of Thursday, had recorded 46 deaths related to Covid-19, with 442 positive cases. Currently mortality rate in the city stands at 10.40%
The Pune civic administration is focusing its anti-Covid-19 efforts on ensuring all symptomatic persons are able to access a host of “flu centres” set up across the city.
Ten mobile vans are in operation in the containment zones in Pune, with four such vans in Pimpri-Chinchwad. This is apart from 74 flu centres already set up across the city, and 35 in areas under PCMC.
Pune, as of Thursday, had recorded 46 deaths related to Covid-19, with 442 positive cases. Currently mortality rate in the city stands at 10.40%.
Deepak Mhaisekar, divisional commissioner, said, “We have noticed that often senior citizens or people comorbid conditions, like diabetes, hypertension, or any diseases which affect the kidney or liver, go for preliminary treatment and take medicines off the counter. This may suppress the symptoms for a few days, which then come back and worsen the situation. We request every patient who shows any flu-like symptom to directly go the flu centres set up by the local body.”
As per data released by the Pune municipal corporation’s (PMC) health department, since March 1, 2.24 lakh citizens have been screened, of which 58,872 patients were found to have flu-like symptoms.
However, of these, only 326 were sent to Naidu hospital, and 497 were sent to Sassoon hospital, for the Covid-19 test.
Further, data from the PMC’s door-to-door survey, on from March 16 until April 14, reveals a total of 1,483 persons with flu-like symptoms have either been home quarantined, or isolated in hospitals.
Thirty of these are in the Naidu hospital, one at the flu centre at Sanas ground, and 15 at the Laygude hospital.
An Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR) study, released earlier this week, found that 21 out of 577 patients with severe acute respiratory (SAR) illnesses tested positive for Covid-19 in Pune.
Doctors have been emphasising that all symptomatic patients, irrespective of travel history, location or contact with Covid-19-positive person(s), be tested.
Dr Avinash Bhondwe, head of the Indian Medical Association’s Maharashtra chapter, said, “More patients with flu-like symptoms need to be tested. There was a case in Panvel when a man tested negative and then died. Many people attended the funeral. The second test results, which came later, showed he tested positive for Covid-19. Since Covid-19 first attacks the respiratory system, all patients with flu-like symptoms must be tested.”
Covid Care Centres (CCC) or flu centres
These are institutional quarantine facilities set up in hostels, hotels, guesthouses, lodges, stadiums, banquet halls and schools for high- and low-risk contacts, who are not identified as Covid-19 positive, but need to be kept under observation.
Prominent flu centres:
• Rakshak Nagar sports centre, Kharadi (70 beds)
• Draupdabai Murlidhar Khedekar hospital, Bopodi (50)
• Murlidhar Pandurang Laygude hospital, Wadgaon Dhayari (60)
• Namdevrao Shivarkar Maternity Centre, Wanowrie (10)
• Meenatai Thackeray Maternity Centre, Kondhwa (10)
• Sanas Sports Ground hostel (175)
