PUNE: A majority of Covid cases in the Pune municipal limits is now being recorded from just three ward areas - Aundh-Baner, Ahmednagar Road-Vadgaonsheri and Hadapsar-Mundhwa - while the daily caseload in the remaining 12 ward limits has dropped to single-digit, the PMC's latest report on the ward-wise distribution of positive cases has revealed.
Each of the three wards reported 200 to 250 cases during the last week (February 21-27). The core city areas including Kothrud, Karvenagar and Peth areas are currently reporting cases in single digits. The lowest daily count in the city was 38 as recorded in November last year. It went up to 8,800 in January this year during the third wave, PMC officials said.
"Currently, the PMC areas/wards are reporting less than 150 cases every day. About 60% of the positive cases are now being reported from Hadapsar-Mundhwa, Ahmednagar Road-Vadgaonsheri and Aundh-Baner areas," said Dr Sanjeev Wavre, PMC's nodal officer for Covid-19.
The PMC officials said about 2,500 samples were being tested every day and the current positivity rate was less than 5%.
The officials said these three municipal wards were the only areas recording positive cases in double digits and their seven-day calculation puts the caseload in three digits. The Hadapsar-Mundhwa municipal ward limits recorded 243 cases during the February 21-17 period, while Ahmednagar Road-Vadgaonsheri and Aundh-Baner ward office areas recorded 204 and 200 cases, respectively.
"High-rise residential buildings/housing societies are the places that have continued to report a majority of the current cases," Dr Wavre said.
The majority of 1,232 active patients in the PMC limits have mild disease and are undergoing care within the confines of their homes. Among those currently undergoing care in private hospitals, 16 patients are admitted in various hospitals' ICUs, while 70 are on the basic oxygen support, the official said.
Dr Mahesh Wayal, a family physician practising in Karvenagar, said, "During the third wave in January, we would report an average of 15 positive cases every day. Now, we are reporting a case in a week."
