Samples are taking for testing at Katraj in Pune. (Express Photo: Ashish Kale) With the coronavirus cases now looking to touch the 3,000-mark, the Pune district administration has stepped up testing numbers to further rein in the spread of the disease.
On Thursday, 15,791 samples were tested in the district, compared to between 12,000 and 13,000 samples that were being tested previously. The positivity rate, or the number of positives detected out of those tested, was quite high, in excess of 18 per cent, very similar to the rates that existed at the peak of the epidemic in August and September last year.
On Thursday, more than 2,800 new cases were detected in the district, over 1,500 of them in the Pune Municipal Corporation areas. The district administration also reported 15 deaths on Thursday, though the state government data showed nine deaths. There are differences in the numbers released by district administration and the state government, possibly due to the lag in reporting of cases.
State government data shows that almost 4.3 lakh people in the district have so far been infected with the disease. Out of these, over 21,000 cases are currently active. The district has so far recorded at least 8,114 deaths. Pune has the second largest number of confirmed infections in the country – only Delhi has more – and the highest number of active cases right now.
Along with the testing, vaccination numbers have also shown an increase in Pune in the last few days. Within the PMC areas, 12,595 people were vaccinated on Thursday, taking the total number of vaccinations to 1,29,102.