In wake of the grim COVID-19 situation in Pune, Deputy Chief Minister and district Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday directed the district administration to set up three jumbo facilities by the end of August.

In a review meeting with senior authorities of the district administration, Mr. Pawar urged them to set up the facilities and arrange for requisite manpower in anticipation of the spike in cases by August-end. The facilities are collectively proposed to have 1,800 oxygenated beds and 600 ICU beds.

“The establishment of the three jumbo hospitals is expected to considerably enhance the city’s medical infrastructure and ease out the bed shortage. The first hospital is due to come up at the College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) grounds in the next 20 days or so. We are considering four locations in the city — AISSMS ground, Balewadi, Baburao Sanas ground, and Sangvi — for the other two facilities,” said Saurabh Rao, officer on special duty at the Divisional Commissioner’s office.

Mr. Rao said a feasibility study taking into account a number of parameters like electricity and water supply, connectivity, and gradient level was under way. “We are going to publish the expressions of interest (EOIs) for these two facilities by July 29. The EOI for the first jumbo hospital has already been published,” he said.

Mr. Rao also said that in a view to ramp up the manpower for these facilities and cope with the alarming rise in cases, the administration was trying to get as many registered nursing homes in Pune as possible to get into the ‘COVID-19 network’.

“Bed management in a centralised manner is the most vital need of the hour. We have set up an infrastructure task force and have held meetings with representatives of the Indian Medical Association, the Nursing Home Association, and the General Practitioner’s Association in this regard. While there are around 700 small and medium nursing homes registered under the Pune Municipal Corporation, at present, only 100 are a part of the COVID-19 network. So, we are trying to add as many beds as possible to our kitty,” Mr. Rao said.

90,000 active cases

The precipitate rise in cases across Pune district has put a severe strain on the medical infrastructure. As per the Pune civic body’s estimates, the city alone is likely to see more than 90,000 active cases by August-end.

Commenting on the projected spike in cases, Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said there were various predictions ranging from 50,000 to 94,000 by August-end.

“Whatever be the estimates, we [the district administration] are preparing for the worst-case scenario. The rise in cases is due to the fact that Pune is testing the maximum samples in the country. More than 1.24 lakh samples were tested during the 10-day lockdown from July 14 to 24, an average of 12,000 samples a day,” said Dr. Mhaisekar, adding that the district’s case fatality rate has come down to 2.38% from 2.74% on July 13.

Meanwhile, the district reported another massive spike of more than 2,000 new cases, taking its total case tally to 71,500. Of these, 25,552 are active. With 35 new deaths, the district’s death toll has touched 1,705.

“A total of 11,515 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, while 44,243 people have been discharged till now,” said Dr. Mhaisekar.

The situation remained grim in Solapur district, which reported a spike of 316 cases, taking its total tally to 7,383, of which 2, 831 are active. The district’s death toll has climbed to 434.

Kolhapur district, too, witnessed a massive spike of 382 cases, taking its case tally to 4,493, of which 2,749 are active. The district’s death toll has risen to 110.

The total case tally of Pune division — which includes the districts of Pune, Solapur, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur — has risen to 88,152, of which 33,546 are active. The division has reported 2,406 deaths till now.

BJP leader succumbs

Among the latest victims is a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Solapur, Sanjay Waikar, who had tested positive recently. Waikar, who was in his 50s and was the BJP city chief of Pandharpur, succumbed to the virus on Monday morning.