NASHIK: Guardian minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who chaired the weekly Covid meeting at the district collectorate on Friday, cautioned people against flouting the Covid safety protocols as the number of active cases in Nashik in the last one week has again touched the 1,000-mark.
The number of active cases in Nashik district this week was 1,035 out of which the city has 279 cases. Last week, the number of new cases in the district stood at 951, including 286 infections in the city.
“It is good that new cases in urban areas are reducing. In rural areas only some pockets are witnessing rise in cases. The spike in new cases can be due to Ganeshotsav, but we need to deal with this strictly,” Bhujbal said. The positivity rate has also increased from 2.4% to 3%, but fatality rate was better than the state average.
It should be noted 11 deaths due to Covid-19 were reported last week while two weeks ago the number was seven. “Installation of Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants in Harsul and Zodge was delayed a bit, while the work for plants across the rural areas of the district was completed on time,” he said.
About availability of ambulances with the primary health centres (PHCs) in rural areas, he said at least 35 more ambulances will be made available to the PHCs as the state government has allotted funds for them.
Talking about vaccination, Bhujbal said the district had gathered good pace in inoculation as so far 35% of the eligible population has been administered the first dose and 12.5 per cent have been fully vaccinated. “We have the capacity of administering 1 lakh doses per day. With availability of vaccines we can increase the pace,” Bhujbal added.
