Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh RaoThe administration on Tuesday said its main concern was to control the spread of Covid-19 in the peri-urban area of the city, as the peth, which is the central part of the city, is relatively sanitised.
“The old part in the centre of the city, which is the peth area, is relatively sanitised. It has reached a position of comfort and the new concern is now the peri-urban area, which has emerged as a Covid hotspot,” said Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao.
Rao added that the administration was worried about the increasing number of cases in rural parts of the district, and controlling the spread of the viral infection was possible only if guidelines were strictly followed.
“Lessons from other areas where the spread has been brought under control will be used in the new area that is witnessing an increase in number of cases,” Rao said.
He said the number of patients getting cured is more than newly infected patients in the district. “The situation in the PMC is becoming more stabilised. There has been a decline in the number of new patients in the last few days. The positivity rate is 23 per cent, much less than last month’s 30 per cent,” he said.
The divisional commissioner said there were good signs of a changing scenario with fewer cases of infection, but now was not the time to be overconfident, and that more determined steps were being taken to further check the spread.
He said there was a surge in patients after Ganesh festival and now it seemed the second surge was over. “Bars and restaurants have reopened. Also, festivals are round the corner. There needs to be strict monitoring that guidelines are being followed to avoid another surge,” he added.
Going by the PMC data in the last two weeks, the spread is maximum in the suburban area that comes under various ward offices of Dhankawadi-Sahakarnagar (increase of 20.3 per cent), Sinhagad Road (increase of 20.2 per cent), Warje-Karvenagar (increase of 20 per cent), Aundh-Baner (increase of 19.9 per cent), Hadapsar-Mundhwa and Nagar Road-Vadgaonsheri (increase of 18.3 per cent and 18.2 per cent, respectively).
The central part of the city had the least increase in new patients. The Dhole-Patil Road ward recorded an increase of 9.4 per cent, 9.6 per cent in Bhawani Peth, 11.5 per cent in Kasba-Vishrambaugwada, and 12.9 per cent in Shivajinagar-Ghole Road.
The PMC’s revised list of containment zones on Monday had maximum from the suburban area that has witnessed maximum increase in number of patients. There is no strict implementation of norms in containment zones, except for partial barricading of roads to indicate that it is a containment zone. There is, however, no check on movement in and out of the area.
According to guidelines, there should be restrictions on non-essential commercial activities in containment zones with strict instructions to follow distancing and stay home unless there was a medical emergency.
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