while more than 1,200 coronavirus-related deaths were recorded in April last year, January saw the deaths of 228 people. The daily count of coronavirus cases in Pune dropped to the lowest in 25 days, with only 3,762 infections being detected on Monday. But January still ended as the month with the second-highest number of new cases in the district since the start of the pandemic.
Over 2.45 lakh new cases were reported in the district in January, next only to 3.07 lakh that were detected in April last year. More than half the cases in January, 1.29 lakh, were reported from Pune Municipal Corporation areas.
But while more than 1,200 coronavirus-related deaths were recorded in April last year, January saw the deaths of 228 people.
A significant proportion of the infections in January has been among children, but as health officials and doctors, said most of these were extremely mild.
“Paediatric infections have been very mild, and children have responded well to treatment,” Dr Sanjeev Wavare, assistant medical chief of Pune Municipal Corporation, told The Indian Express.
However, with schools and colleges set to reopen on February 1 in the city, paediatricians have also urged caution and emphasised on sticking to Covid-appropriate behaviour.
“We are seeing 10-15 children daily in the OPD with symptoms that are highly likely to be Covid. This is mainly as one or two members of the same family have had symptoms like cold cough and fever. While current guidelines say mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic persons need not test as in all likelihood the infection could be due to the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2 virus, we urge them to remain isolated. The virus is still around and we are still not in a very safe position. Though it is a mild variant, it is still quite prevalent,” Dr Umesh Vaidya, noted paediatrician and regional medical director (West) Cloudnine hospitals said.
Dr Pradeep Suryavanshi, Head of Department of Neonatology and Paediatrics at Sahyadri hospital opening the schools was the right decision, but precaution was a must. “We are treating almost every case of fever as a potential coronavirus infection. Most of the paediatric infections are mild and responding to symptomatic treatment. While personally I would have preferred to wait for another fortnight for reopening schools as we are still getting cases in the OPD, but, I guess, a balance has to be maintained. Children have been at home for too long now,” he said.
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