AA 56-year-old assistant sub-inspector attached to the Special Branch of the Pune Police succumbed to the novel coronavirus while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Hadapsar late on Monday.
According to authorities, the official, who was diabetic and had high blood pressure, became the third police personnel in the city to die due to COVID-19.
Sources said he had been on sick leave for the past few months after an accident. He is said to have tested positive for COVID-19 a fortnight ago, following which his family members were quarantined.
Last month, a 57-year-old assistant sub-inspector attached to the Faraskhana police station and a 42-year-old traffic constable had succumbed to the disease.
Till date, more than 70 police personnel in the city have tested positive, of whom 46 have recovered.
Meanwhile, Pune district reported 145 new cases on Tuesday as its cumulative case tally, including deaths and recoveries, rose to 12,389. With four deaths, the toll has climbed to 515, authorities said.
Pune Divisional Commissioner Dr. Deepak Mhaisekar said only 3,952 cases are active, while 7,922 people have been discharged so far. The district’s recovery rate has increased to 63.94%. The number of active cases in Pune has come down since Monday’s tally of 4,057.
In a record single-day high, authorities said more than 230 people had been discharged in the district in the last 24 hours.
The total death toll in Pune division, which includes Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Solapur districts along with Pune, has risen to 716.
The division’s case tally is now 15,893, of which 5,021 are active. A total 10,156 people in these five districts have been discharged thus far, Dr. Mhaisekar said. Around 254 patients in the division are critical.
After Pune district, Solapur reported the second-highest surge in cases in the division, with 65 new cases taking the district’s total case tally to 1,787. However, only 693 of these are active, with 942 people discharged so far. Solapur district’s death toll stands at 152.
“Satara has reported seven new COVID-19 cases to take the district’s total tally to 745. Of these, the number of active patients has come down to 174, with 537 recoveries thus far. The district has reported three more fatalities [on Tuesday] to take the total death toll to 34,” Dr. Mhaisekar said.
Sangli district reported 11 new cases to take its case tally to 247, of which 119 are active, while a few new cases in Kolhapur took its tally to 725. However, Kolhapur only has 83 active cases, with 634 recoveries and eight deaths till now.
Meanwhile, Aurangabad district reported 93 new cases as the district’s total tally inched closer to the 3,000 mark. Four deaths were also reported on Tuesday, to take the district’s total death toll to 162. Officials said of the 2,998 cases in the district, only 1,209 are active, while 1,551 people have recovered.