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A door-to-door survey will be conducted on Tuesday of homes located across 35 square km area from RTO till Pune’s Gultekdi, which has reported 60 per cent of the total COVID-19 positive cases in the city.
The total number of persons with the infection has increased to 142 in Pune after as many as 38 new patients were diagnosed with coronavirus on Monday, the highest single-day spike in the number of cases in the district.
The decision was taken after Ayush Prasad, CEO of Pune ZP, who undertook a similar door to door exercise in rural areas of Pune across nine lakh homes, met Sassoon hospital and BJ Medical College authorities to take a stock of how many swabs could be tested in a day.
The team of health workers will conduct a door to door survey and also check if any person has co-morbidities like diabetes and hypertension, apart from travel history and contact with COVID-19 positive persons. Symptomatic persons will be sent to Sassoon hospital for tests and positive cases will then be sent to isolation facilities in the city.
“There is an increasing load on Naidu hospital, which has been sending swabs daily for tests. If one tests positive, then there are several close contacts, who as per guidelines are immediately quarantined either at home or at an institution,” Dr Ramchandra Hankare, PMC Medical chief said.
At Sassoon hospital, 50 samples are being checked daily and 23 have tested positive so far. Dr Ajay Chandanwale, dean of BJ Medical College, said they could scale up testing.
“The administration wants to ensure zero local transmission and early detection in the areas which have been sealed and hence the survey is undertaken,” Prasad said.