The number of new Covid-19 cases per day in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) jurisdiction crosses those under Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
Maharashtra, Mumbai, Pune Coronavirus News Live Updates: With the single-day spike of 8,308 new COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, the tally of patients in the state mounted to 2,92,589 on Friday, the health department said. This is the third time that the number of single-day cases has breached the 8,000-mark in the state. The virus has claimed 258 lives on Friday alone, taking the state’s death toll to 11,452, a statement from the health department said. As Pune inches towards the 50,000-mark in total Covid-19 cases, despite the strain, medical teams are holding forth.
As the number of new Covid-19 cases per day in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) jurisdiction crosses those under Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), once one of the worst hit civic bodies in the state, Deputy Chief Minister and Pune Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday sought the help of BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal to apprise Pune civic authorities on the steps taken by the BMC in containing the infection in Mumbai, so that similar efforts can be taken in tackling the situation in Pune.
The Phase-1 clinical trials for India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, started across the country on July 15. While 375 volunteers will be enrolled in Phase 1 of the human clinical trial, plans are underway to enroll a total of 1,125 for both phases. The vaccine has been developed by Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology and Indian Council of Medical Research.
Pune, Pimpri-Chichwad and some parts of Pune rural are under a 10-day strict lockdown till July 23, in an effort to curb the spike in cases (Express Photo: Ashish Kale)
In a weekly review meeting on the Covid-19 situation in Pune district, which Chahal also attended, the BMC commissioner gave detailed information on the measures taken by the Mumbai civic body in containing the spread of the infection through testing, and managing crucial elements such as doctors, beds and ambulances.
On Thursday, the PMC reported 1,812 new cases, and 1,416 new cases the day before, while the number of cases reported by BMC was 1,476 and 1,374 in the last two days, respectively.
The PMC has been struggling to deal with the increasing number of cases, as local hospitals run out of beds for critical patients, and complaints pile up about Covid-19 patients being turned away by hospitals due to lack of beds.
At the meeting, Pawar said, “The BMC administration has succeeded in containing the spread of Covid-19 in the state capital. There is a need to implement steps in Pune on the lines of those taken by the BMC. The information technology tools have to be used for management of tests, ambulance and hospital beds”.
Ensuring that the needy get treatment on time, and chalking up a plan to contain the spread of the viral infection across the district should be the administration’s topmost priorities, he said.
Pune, Pimpri-Chichwad and some parts of Pune rural are under a 10-day strict lockdown till July 23, in an effort to curb the spike in cases here, after Pawar recommended the measure.
In a surprise move last week, the state government had replaced then PMC commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad with Vikram Kumar, shortly after Gaikwad, during the weekly review meeting, expressed reservations about implementing a lockdown again.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/maharashtra-mumbai-pune-thane-coronavirus-news-live-updates-covid-19-corona-cases-tracker-today-update-6511141/
