Despite the soaring COVID-19 cases and deaths in Pune, there are no signs of community spread in any infected cluster, Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said on Friday. The challenges facing the civic body, he said, are of an overstretched healthcare system and logistics for taking care of new cases.
Mr. Gaikwad told The Hindu that most of the existing medical staff of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and other healthcare personnel have been pushed to the limit in battling the COVID-19 contagion.
“Most medical officers and healthcare staff at Naidu Hospital have gone without leave for nearly 45 days. So, replacement of doctors is a problem. We have been appealing to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and at present, 11 doctors from the IMA are augmenting our efforts,” Mr. Gaikwad said.
The municipal corporation has likewise appealed to Army doctors, he said. Former servicemen have been requested to provide logistical help in transporting new patients and assist as a supervisory cadre in overseeing these processes.
Mr. Gaikwad said the spike in cases is mainly due to increased testing capabilities and intensive screening in the five highly infected wards, including Bhavani Peth, Kasba-Vishrambaug Wada, Parvati and Kondhwa.
“If the number of cases is rising, it is because we are now catching more cases due to more testing. Till last week, we were testing only 400-500 samples a day. Yesterday, we tested a record 889 samples. However, contact tracing in these densely packed clusters still poses a major obstacle,” he said.
Mr. Gaikwad said it was impossible to maintain social distancing when nearly 15 people are cramped together in areas like Bhavani Peth and Parvati.
The city has thus far reported nearly 850 cases and more than 60 deaths.
Commenting on the logistical problems, Mr. Gaikwad said if a COVID-19 positive person had come into contact with 60 others, then there was an immediate problem of arranging ambulances to transport them and medical personnel, including doctors, nurses, lab technicians to test them, besides feeding and keeping them in quarantine facilities.
“With all hospitals filled to capacity, we will be converting empty school buildings into quarantine facilities,” he said.
Offer from Azam Campus
In wake of the PMC’s appeal for more quarantine space, the management of the Azam Campus mosque — one of the biggest mosques in the city— has come forward to offer its premises as a quarantine centre.
The mosque, located in Pune Cantonment, is adjacent to Bhavani Peth and Nana Peth, the most-infected clusters in the city reporting the most cases and deaths.
“We have expressed our willingness to the district administration to use the mosque for quarantining suspected cases. We have a capacity of quarantining at least 60 people in the 9,000 sq.ft. hall after maintaining social distance rules. There would be place to put up doctors and police personnel as well,” said educationist Dr. P.A. Inamdar, president, M.C.E. Society, Azam Campus.
Dr. Inamdar said now was the time for more mosques and religious institutions to come forward and make available their properties to the administration.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gaikwad said the administration is focusing on the high-risk clusters and plans to transfer the teams that are working in areas where cases have not increased to the most infected wards.
“At present, we have 42 teams in areas like Bhavani Peth, which have reported the most cases. We plan to add 30 more teams in areas like Aundh, Baner and Kothrud, which have not reported any rise in cases. We have designated such areas in the orange zone as the number of cases has remained low for some time now. We are positive about commencing activity in these areas as soon as the lockdown is lifted, and will take a call on this after May 3,” he said.
