Pune: Kothrud records sharpest rise in containment zones

PUNE: The Kothrud-Bavdhan area, along with Hadapsar, has recorded the sharpest rise in micro containment zones in a fortnight, taking its total count to 10, which is the second highest among the 15 PMC wards.
The Kothrud ward limits had only six restricted zones between August 1 and 17. The area also had the least disease burden among the 15 wards till recently.
At 11, the Hadapsar ward areas have the highest number of micro containment zones in the PMC limits. The Kothrud-Bavdhan area share the second spot with Shivajinagar-Ghole Road and Nagar Road-Vadgaonsheri ward limits (see box).

PMC officials attributed the sharp increase in the containment zones to the rapid rise in Covid-19 cases in the ward limits. “The cases have gone up due to the increased testing and contact tracing. Even those with the possibility of contracting the infection due to secondary contact are being checked intensively. Age (senior citizens) and co-morbidities are some of the key factors considered while identifying positive cases,” a senior PMC official said.
The civic administration had declared a new set of micro containment zones on Monday, which include areas like Kelewadi, Kishkindhanagar, Vrundavan Colony, Azadnagar, Gujarat Colony and Shashtrinagar. “Most of the areas, which have been named as micro containment zones, are densely populated. They are either slums pockets or localities close to slums. The early phase of spread in Kothrud-Bavdhan area had started from these locations. The current spike is seen at the same spots and areas adjacent to these locations. Human-to-human transmission could have been a reason behind the rise in positive cases,” the official said.
Vaishali Jadhav, a senior official of the PMC’s health department, said, “The areas with less positive cases earlier are showing an increase in cases now. Kothrud too is one such example.”