Team suggests high-risk people in Pune be identified and testing, contact-tracing be increased (File)
Pune has become a cause of concern for the centre, as a central team that visited the city said the social distancing is not being followed in the city and the rate of coronavirus transmission is high.
Not just healthcare staff and police, but vegetable vendors and shopkeepers selling have been found to be COVID-19 positive, reported the team which visited Pune earlier this month.
Central teams were sent to Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bengal a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the lockdown. While making the extension announcement, PM Modi had made it clear that all all districts will be under scanner to observe the compliance to lockdown.
"The doubling rate of coronavirus in the city is seven days. It is a little higher as compared to rest of the country. Also while country's average is one positive coronavirus case among 23 samples, in Pune, it is nine samples," Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary in the home ministry, told reporters today.
The central team, which landed in the city on April 20, toured the containment zones, shelter camps for migrant labourers, vegetable markets, PDS shops, the municipal corporation control room and hospitals. They also held a discussion through video-conferencing with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other senior officials.
The team has suggested that high-risk people in Pune be identified quickly and surveillance, testing and contact-tracing be increased.
"Lockdown protocols need to be enforced strictly and also instead of home-quarantine, institutional-quarantine is essential in slums," Ms Srivastava said. Social distancing norms are not being followed properly in the city's slums, markets and other places, the team has said.
In Rajasthan's Jaipur, the central team - which visited hospitals, quarantine centres, containment zones and relief camps - have suggested strict steps to enforce the lockdown in the Walled City, especially during the evening.
The team suggested that ration and other supplies be made more systematic, quarantine camps be moved away from residential areas and the speed of test results be increased.
It also suggested that non-COVID-19 hospitals should be identified so that people are able to get other healthcare facilities, Ms Srivastava said.
The COVID-19 chain can only be broken when the lockdown rules are followed diligently, Ms Srivastava said.