Coronavirus still prevalent, don’t drop defences, doctors warn

PUNE: Doctors have urged Pune citizens not to lower their guard as the coronavirus continues to be an active threat in the region.
Specialists warned that unlocks had caused defences such as use of masks and social distancing to “erode”. If these safeguards slip further, experts said, Pune could again see spikes in Covid-19 cases and deaths.

“After a prolonged lockdown, people are eager to get back to work, shopping and parties.But the threat posed by this virus is still very much active,” said surgeon Dhananjay Kelkar, the medical director of the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital.
A WhatsApp post on Monday from Kelkar, urging Puneites to unite against the Covid-19 pandemic, was circulated among scores of citizens. “I felt like making the appeal because we are not safe yet. The Covid-19 fear is being replaced by carelessness,” Kelkar said.
He added that the tall peak Puneites started to see recently was probably in the making from the last week of July. “But minor peaks in cases are still being seen. So precaution is key,” he added.
Healthcare staff across all hospitals in the city have been reporting fresh challenges every day.
Kelkar said, “Hospitals have had infections among their workforce, which is also reporting fatigue. Some nursing staff have said they want to be home for the Ganesh festival and a shortage among these key frontline workers is imminent. So it’s extremely demoralising to see the population throwing caution to the wind.”
Public health expert Sanjeev Wavare, assistant medical officer of health (AMoH) of the PMC said citizens should be careful, particularly during this season. “Temperatures have dropped. The virus spreads in conducive weather. Cases may or may not have peaked. But if we drop our guard, we will continue to have deaths as SARS-CoV-2 virus is still active in Pune,” Wavare said.
Health activist Abhijit More said, “Civic bodies have not been proactive in the use of mass media tools. We need to reach out to residents of densely populated neighbourhoods so that they stay vigilant. Officials should provide people with sanitisers and masks irrespective of the ‘containment’ and ‘non-containment’ tags.”
The World Health Organisation, in repeated briefings, has said that communities should not abandon precautions, besides masks, such as physical distancing.
The global body has stated that people in affected countries should maintain at least six-feet distance between another person.
This advisory on distancing was upgraded to include emerging research that said Covid-19 can spread via extremely tiny respiratory droplets that can stay on in the air for some time.