E-Paper
Chase the virus: Pune dist admin to start 100 per cent testing at 164 hotspots in next ten days
To stop the spread of the virus in these specific areas the administration will be doing 100 per cent screening of the population out here. They have planned to test at such hot spots which includes both, gram panchayats and nagar parishad areas
Amid the rise in Covid-19 cases in rural areas in Pune, the district administration has started aggressive testing under a new ‘chase the virus’ initiative.
They have identified 164 hot spots, which include gram panchayats and nagar parishads, where most positive cases are reported and the entire population in these areas will be tested in the next ten days.
“We had surveyed Pune rural area and identified 164 hot spots. Earlier in last week, we did 100 per cent testing of the population in Narayangaon and Manchar, and so the number positive cases were more on certain days. On similar grounds we will be carrying out this initiative called ‘chase the virus’, under which every person living in a hotspot will be tested,” said Rajesh Deshmukh, Pune district collector.
Giving the details of this initiative he said, “Compared to earlier months, the number of tests has increased now in September. For example, in the week of August 13 to 19, the number of tests conducted was 8,291. Now, in this week, September 3 to 9, it has gone up to 24,963 tests.”
“So, it’s almost doubling every week and through our survey, we have noted that 85 per cent of the positive cases are from 65 gram panchayats,” he said.
“To stop the spread of the virus in these specific areas we will be doing 100 per cent screening of the population out here. We have planned to test at of such hot spots in the Pune district which includes both, gram panchayats and nagar parishad areas,” he said.
“We will be also focusing on effective contract tracing, tracking the co-morbid senior citizens and most importantly isolating the positive patients from other people,” he said.
“It will be done in a phase-wise manner, in next eight to 10 days we will complete the testing of these areas and control the spread of the virus,” he added.
In the last few weeks, the number of positive cases is increasing daily in Pune rural parts and Pune district in at the top list for Covid positive cases in the country. The current positivity rate in Pune district is 22 per cent, while the recovery rate has gone beyond to 78 per cent now.
The progressive positive count for the district as of Friday is 2,23,710. Of these total cases, 1,46,182 have recovered, 4,693 have been declared deceased and 72,835 are active cases.
