Despite mounting COVID-19 cases, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) authorities expect to see no more than 7,500 active cases by June 30 as the city’s doubling rate has been improving.

PMC Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said, “With cases now doubling every 14 days, our projected figure for active cases by June-end should not exceed 7,500. The number is far below the Central team’s dire prediction of cases crossing the 10,000 mark in Pune city by May-end.” Mr. Gaikwad said the COVID-19 situation was under control in the city, which reported over 250 new cases on Wednesday and more than 100 new cases till Thursday evening.

Rise in testing

Mr. Gaikwad said more cases are bound to be detected owing to the increased rate of testing, which is now over 1,200 samples a day. As per authorities, Pune city at present has over 2,500 active cases, while the district has 3,018 positive cases. Despite the city reporting more than 350 COVID-19 deaths till date, Mr. Gaikwad said all victims had co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and heart disease. Mr. Gaikwad said, “The deaths in the city, including COVID-19 fatalities, are 200 to 300 below the usual figures in a given time period [March-June] over the past few years. So the situation is not abnormal.”

Mr. Gaikwad said residents must take all precautions though 97% of the city had opened up and only a small percentage of areas are totally ‘locked-in’. “Citizens must also remember that there is nothing to get scared of the novel coronavirus, which is just another flu. Our future awareness campaigns will be emphasising this point as well,” the PMC Commissioner said.

Authorities said Pune district, including Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune Rural, reported 130 new cases on Thursday, taking its tally to 8,604. Five more fatalities were also recorded, pushing the death toll to 383.

Despite the rise in cases, Pune Divisional Commissioner Dr. Deepak Mhaisekar said only 3,018 (35%) of the cases were active. A total of 5,203 patients (60.47% of the total cases) have been discharged till date. Since May 25, an average 150 patients have been discharged every day in Pune city.

Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said cases in Pune’s rural areas had decreased significantly owing to effective contact tracing. He said, “We faced a huge influx of people who were returning to Pune’s rural areas from Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. This led to a sharp rise in cases in the Pune Rural. Staying on high alert and strictly adhering to physical distancing measures helped us check the spread of the virus. The measures also helped reduce the potential viral load on Pune city.”

Dr. Mhaisekar the death toll in Pune division — which includes Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur and Pune districts — has risen to 511. Pune division’s tally has now reached 11,086, of which 4,334 are active cases. Dr. Mhaisekar said, “As many as 6,241 patients, more than 60% of the cases reported in these five districts, have been discharged till date. Around 238 patients are critical.”

Dr. Mhaisekar said Solapur reported a spike of 55 cases and six new deaths since Wednesday evening, taking its tally to 1,135 and death count to 94. He said, “Of Solapur’s total cases, 565 are active, while 476 patients have been discharged. In Satara, nine new cases were reported, taking the district’s tally to 578. There are 331 active cases and 223 patients have been discharged. The district’s death toll is 24.”

Kolhapur district reported 15 new cases in the last 24 hours, pushing its tally to 645. There are 370 active cases and 269 patients have been discharged. The district has reported six deaths so far.