PUNE: Over 2.5 lakh people — two lakh in Pune civic limits and another 50,000 in the jurisdiction of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation — underwent the Covid-19 test till Sunday, indicating a sharp rise in daily testing in both the corporation areas off-late.
The civic officials claimed that large number of tests were being conducted for quicker control over the Covid-19 spread. They stressed it would help in early detection and quick recovery, thereby reducing the mortality rate in Pune.
The daily screening in the Pune municipal limits has gone up from 400 per day in March to around 3,800 daily in July, after the introduction of the rapid antigen test. The total number of citizens screened crossed the two lakh-mark on Sunday night in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)’s jurisdiction.
According to the PMC data, a total of 3,815 tests were conducted on Sunday, taking the total tests to 2.02 lakh. Nearly 5% population in the PMC limits has been tested in the past four months.
“The PMC has added a number of centres to carry out the antigen tests. The results of rapid tests are out within half-an-hour, so it is possible to conduct more tests per day,” said a senior official. He said the authorities were focusing on reducing the death rate, which has now dropped to 2.7%. It was over 4% in March. A large number of tests is a must to reduce the mortality rate further.
According to the PMC, the Union government had sent teams from the health department for checking the status of coronavirus spread in the PMC limits in April, May and June. The experts in those teams also recommended an increase in testing. Contact tracing and detection of comorbidity are the focus areas while selecting people for tests.
ThePMChastaken several steps to improve its testing capacity, including tying up with private labs for additional testing facilities. Mobile testing vans were used to provide tests at the doorsteps of citizens. Ward office-level swab collection centres were also set up.
Shantanu Goel, the additional commissioner of the PMC, said, “We have given emphasis on more and more screening as a strategy. Massive contact tracing and testing were done even during the recently imposed strict five-day lockdown.”
In the PCMC limits, as many as 52,410 tests were conducted till July19 evening. The testing started on March13.
Pimpri Chinchwad municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar said the number of daily tests had been increased gradually over the past few weeks. In recent times, the number of daily tests reached around 3,000. The tests are being conducted in private and government-run facilities.
“We need to start conducting syndromic surveillance in the community,” said epidemiologist Amitav Banerjee.
(With inputs from Piyush Bhusari)
The civic officials claimed that large number of tests were being conducted for quicker control over the Covid-19 spread. They stressed it would help in early detection and quick recovery, thereby reducing the mortality rate in Pune.
The daily screening in the Pune municipal limits has gone up from 400 per day in March to around 3,800 daily in July, after the introduction of the rapid antigen test. The total number of citizens screened crossed the two lakh-mark on Sunday night in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)’s jurisdiction.
According to the PMC data, a total of 3,815 tests were conducted on Sunday, taking the total tests to 2.02 lakh. Nearly 5% population in the PMC limits has been tested in the past four months.
“The PMC has added a number of centres to carry out the antigen tests. The results of rapid tests are out within half-an-hour, so it is possible to conduct more tests per day,” said a senior official. He said the authorities were focusing on reducing the death rate, which has now dropped to 2.7%. It was over 4% in March. A large number of tests is a must to reduce the mortality rate further.
According to the PMC, the Union government had sent teams from the health department for checking the status of coronavirus spread in the PMC limits in April, May and June. The experts in those teams also recommended an increase in testing. Contact tracing and detection of comorbidity are the focus areas while selecting people for tests.
ThePMChastaken several steps to improve its testing capacity, including tying up with private labs for additional testing facilities. Mobile testing vans were used to provide tests at the doorsteps of citizens. Ward office-level swab collection centres were also set up.
Shantanu Goel, the additional commissioner of the PMC, said, “We have given emphasis on more and more screening as a strategy. Massive contact tracing and testing were done even during the recently imposed strict five-day lockdown.”
In the PCMC limits, as many as 52,410 tests were conducted till July19 evening. The testing started on March13.
Pimpri Chinchwad municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar said the number of daily tests had been increased gradually over the past few weeks. In recent times, the number of daily tests reached around 3,000. The tests are being conducted in private and government-run facilities.
“We need to start conducting syndromic surveillance in the community,” said epidemiologist Amitav Banerjee.
(With inputs from Piyush Bhusari)
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