Pune: Doubling rate slows down, but some wards see worrying spike in cases

The percentage-wise spike was the largest in Janta Vasahat Dattawadi ward, followed by Koregaon Park Ghorpadi ward, Kalas Dhanori ward, Vimannagar Somnathnagar, Mayur colony Dahanukar Colony and Erandwane Happy Colony wards, respectively.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has had some wins and some setbacks in its fight against Covid-19. While the civic body has managed to slow down the speed of the spread of infection to an extent, 23 of its 42 ward offices have seen the number of patients double in the same period.

As on May 23, Pune had 4,619 reported Covid-19 cases, as against 2,493 cases by May 10. While the number of patients has increased by 2,126 patients, the increase in 14 days was less than the double mark. The doubling rate was eight days a month ago, between April 16 to 24, and 13 days between April 25 till May 7.

Some of the ward offices, however, have seen a significant increase in cases in the same period. The maximum spike of 510 patients was in the Tadiwala Road-Sassoon Hospital ward, the worst-hit area in the pandemic. The number of infected persons in the area is soon likely to cross the 1,000-mark.

The second-highest increase, of 244 patients, has been in the Yerawada ward, as it reaches the 500-mark. The Kasba Peth-Somwar Peth ward witnessed the third-largest increase of 109 patients in a fortnight.

The percentage-wise spike was the largest in Janta Vasahat Dattawadi ward, followed by Koregaon Park Ghorpadi ward, Kalas Dhanori ward, Vimannagar Somnathnagar, Mayur colony Dahanukar Colony and Erandwane Happy Colony wards, respectively.

Only one ward, Rambaug Colony-Shivtirth Nagar, didn’t see a single new Covid-19 case during the 14-day period while Baner-Balewadi Pashan ward saw one new case, Karvenagar Ward saw two new cases, Warje Malwadi ward and Suncity Hingne Khurd ward had three new cases each, Mayur Colony Dahanukar Colony ward, Aundh Bopodi Ward and Ambegaon Dattanagar Katraj Gaothan saw four new cases.

Based on the number of cases in an area, the PMC has revised its list of containment zones. On May 3, it had declared 69 micro-containment zones spread across 9.91 sq km area and revised it to 65 containment zones on May 18, covering 10.46 sq km. It had removed 24 areas from containment zones while adding 20 new areas in the list.