COVID-19: Pune Divisional Commissioner Dr Deepak Mhaisekar home quarantined

Pune: Divisional Commissioner (Pune Region) Dr Deepak Mhaisekar has been home quarantined after reports of COvid-19 test of his car driver came positive on Tuesday. Dr Mhaisekar has been at the forefront in the battle against Covid-19 since the outbreak began in March in the city.

Contact tracing of the driver and conducting Covid-19 tests on these persons is being carried out. Mhaisekar has been asked to stay in quarantine at home as a part of precautionary measure till the test reports arrive. He is set to retire on July 31 from the service. IAS officer Saurabh Rao has been deputed as a Special Officer in the Divisional Commissioner office recently. He will most likely take charge from Dr Mhaisekar in August.

Dr Mhaisekar’s divisional commissioner office has five districts under its jurisdiction. It includes Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Solapur district. All important decisions regarding the Covid-19 containment strategy are taken by Dr Mhaisekar and his team along with cooperation from the district collectorate and municipal corporations, council offices.

Mhaisekar was a critical member in the review meeting held on July 10 along with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to assess the COVID-19 situation in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad cities and the district rural areas. It was in this meeting that a decision of re-imposing a 10-day strict lockdown was taken.

Dr Mhaisekar has repeatedly called for taking precautions to prevent and control the spread of coronavirus. He has written several informative articles for 'Sakal' and 'Sakal Times' website on how to conduct oneself at home and at public places.

Earlier, several corporators including Mayor Murlidhar Mohol, MLA Mahesh Landge and other political leaders were tested positive for COVID-19 while they were out in the field reaching out to people, helping them and creating awareness about Covid-19. About 150 Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) staff and officers have also tested COVID-positive and most of them have recovered successfully.