Pune: COVID Cases On The Rise, PMC Geared Up For The Second Wave
Mehab Qureshi
Pune, November 21, 2020: As the festival seasons have come to an end, a surge in COVID-19 positive cases has been observed. This has caused a fear of a second COVID wave amongst the Puneites.
With an infrastructure to treat 20,000 patients at once, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is all geared up for the second wave. The civic body in its plan of action has increased oxygenated beds, manpower and all other facilities have been expanded at all the Jumbo facilities.
The highest number of corona patients in Pune so far was 17,781 on September 20. In preparation for the second possible wave, it has been decided to set up infrastructure, assuming 1.10 percent more patients than the previous highest. Accordingly, infrastructure has been prepared for the treatment of 19,560 active patients in the near future.
“We request the citizens to take precautions in the future and follow safety rules to take care of themselves and their families”, appealed Rubal Agarwal, PMC Additional Municipal Commissioner.
The central government had predicted a possible surge in corona after Diwali and had issued instructions to all the states after the second wave of corona began to reverberate globally. It gave clear instructions to prepare for a capacity of ten percent more than the number of patients in the corona. About 15 to 20 percent of the active patients need hospital treatment.
Out of 20,000 active patients (as per the highest prediction), 4,000 patients will have to be treated in hospitals. With this in mind, PMC and district administration have so far made more than 2700 beds available. While 4000 beds are available at private hospitals.
Preparations have also been made in jumbo hospitals. Arrangements have been made to provide all the necessary manpower for the treatment of 800 patients at a time. Additionally, an adequate supply of oxygen has been made in municipal hospitals. Although the Covid Care Centers are currently closed, it will be reopened if the need arises, informed Pune Divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao. The civic body has also clarified that sufficient stocks of medicines and oxygen will be available.
“PMC has set up a treatment system for 20,000 active patients against the backdrop of a possible second wave and for treating 4,000 of them in hospitals. The municipal administration is taking adequate precautions and the citizens should also follow the guidelines for prevention of COVID19”, added Agarwal.
According to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the total number of Coronavirus positive patients till date has reached 166,209 out of which 157,164 have been cured while 4417 have died. There are still 4628 active patients undergoing treatment in various hospitals. They include 378 critical patients out of which 240 are on ventilator support. Yesterday, a total of 209 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery from Coronavirus disease (COVID19) in Pune city. Also, 372 new patients were detected while 10 people died. Swab samples of 4172 were collected for COVID tests.
