Students being checked at Modern college in Pune. (Express photograph by Arul Horizon) The number of new coronavirus cases in Pune crossed the 2,500 mark on Wednesday, prompting the civic administration to consider re-introduction of restrictions on use of marriage halls, swimming pools, gymnasiums and public gardens.
Wednesday’s count of coronavirus cases was the highest recorded in the district since October 4 last year. State government data showed that of the 2,507 new cases detected on Wednesday, 1,384 were found in the Pune Municipal Corporation areas while Pimpri Chinchwad recorded 590 cases.
Pune is right now contributing the highest number of cases for any city in the country, and on Wednesday it accounted for almost 11 per cent of the national total. Along with Mumbai and Nagpur, Pune is powering the surge in Maharashtra, which saw the state record more than 13,000 cases on Wednesday, the highest since October 7 last year.
Wednesday’s count of coronavirus cases was the highest recorded in the district since October 4 last year.
Thanks to Maharashtra, the number of new cases from across the country crossed 20,000 for the first time since January 7.
With cases rising rapidly, Pune mayor Murlidhar Mohol said that a few restrictions were likely to reintroduced in the city from this weekend. A review meeting of the Covid19 epidemic is held every Friday and is usually attended by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who is also the guardian minister for Pune district. Mohol indicated that some decision on restrictions were expected at this Friday’s meeting.
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“The surge in Covid19 cases is a cause of concern for the city, and there is no success in breaking the chain of infections with the current restrictions. A review meeting on Covid19 situation would be held on Friday, and some restrictions are likely to be imposed once again. But there is unlikely to be a lockdown,” Mohol said.
Among the steps being considered are closure of public gardens in the evening, and restrictions on the use of swimming pools, and gymnasiums. “There is also a discussion on reducing the timings for hotels and restaurants. Also, we have to decide whether these additional restrictions would be applicable on all days or only on weekends,” Mohol said.
District authorities reported 11 deaths from Pune on Wednesday, though the data released by the state government showed only two deaths. There has always been a discrepancy in the numbers reported district and state, especially with regard to deaths. District data shows that there have been 9,341 deaths in Pune so far, while the state government puts this number at 8,105.
On Wednesday, 13,710 samples were tested in the district. So far more than 24.40 lakh samples have been tested in the district, out of which over 4.25 lakh have tested positive.