Pune city on Thursday had 35,849 active cases of coronavorus infection. Of these, 825 are critical patients while 3403 are on oxygen support. The civic administration conducted 20,681 tests and detected 4,103 patients with the infection on the day. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon) To take a call on lockdown or additional restrictions, Pune’s district administration is set to meet Friday. The meet comes as covid-19 cases in the city shows no signs of abating – with active cases reaching a new peak and deaths surpassing the 10,000 mark.
Amid all this, the BJP has been opposing a complete lockdown and threatening to take to streets if any such move is announced.
The Pune district has a total of 64,838 active cases with the maximum or 35,849 from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Thus, the administration is struggling to ensure beds for the needy patients.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar would be taking review of the Covid-19 situation as the district continues to witness a rapid surge in viral infection at a high daily positivity rate. Last week, the deputy chief minister had warned of lockdown in the district if the citizens do not cooperate and help bring down the infection.
Of the 64,838 active cases, 15,505 patients in the district are hospitalised while a large number of 49,333 patients are in home isolation. The district has so far registered 10,039 deaths due to Covid19 with 5,506 in PMC.
The administration last week decided to impose orders that ensured closing down of restaurants, hotels, markets, cultural halls by 8 pm till 7 am. The gardens and parks were also closed in the evening so that there is no gathering or free public movement in the evenings. The schools and colleges have been closed till April 30 while the private offices have been asked to run on 50 percent of its capacity by ensuring implementation of Covid protocols as safety measures.
Meanwhile, the BJP has been opposing complete lockdown in the city. “We will oppose it and come out against it on streets. The state government should declare a package for daily wage workers,” said state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil recently.
City BJP chief Jagdish Mulik has demanded financial assistance of Rs 500 crore from the state government for the PMC to handle the Covid situation. “The state government has ignored the civic body and we condemn it for not supporting the PMC in its fight against Covid,” he said.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
