E-Paper
Collector attributes rise in positive cases in Pune to aggressive screening
Covid-19 positive cases have risen from 105 in April 6 to 255 on April 12.
From 105 Covid-19 (coronavirus) positive cases reported last Sunday (April 6), Pune city’s tally crossed 255 on Sunday evening, which the authorities say is because of increased door-to-door screening.
“The cases have doubled in less than seven days as we have started aggressive screening of people wherein health workers are visiting every house to see if there are people with symptoms. After preliminary screening, those with symptoms are tested for Covid-19,” said Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram.
On March 9, city witnessed first two cases of Covid-19 positives when a couple who returned from Dubai, tested positive for the Sar-Cov-2 virus. While the couple and 24 others have recovered, the city’s graph is gradually going north.
The city, according to Pune Municipal Corporation, has been witnessing Covid-19 cases in double digit since last week of March. To cater to increasing number of cases, the Pune civic body along with district administration has prepared 14 hospitals including 12 private and two government hospitals.
Sahil Deo, co-founder of CPC Analytics, said that the spike in cases is gradual. “There was one day when the cases grew by almost 40 and another day when there was a significant increase. But other than that, the increase has been fairly gradual, which is a relief,” said Deo. Deo and his team has been mining Covid-19 related data in India on a day-to-day basis.
According to statistics, the biggest spike in a day was witnessed on April 8, when city saw 39 cases and 10 deaths. Among those succumbed to Covid-19 related complications, most have died in government-run Sassoon General Hospital in the city. The death toll has increased from five to 31 between April 6 and April 12, according to data provided by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) health department.
Till Saturday evening, total tests conducted in the city from day one stood at 2,078, which indicates around 10 per cent of those who tested positive for Covid-19.
