Coronavirus: After two positive cases, Pune district administration prepares 207 beds in ICUs for isolation
Pune, March 10, 2020: After a couple who returned from Dubai on March 1, tested positive for Coronavirus on Monday (March 9), the Pune district administration swung into action and has quarantined four others from the couple’s family as well as the driver of a taxi service who ferried them from Mumbai to Pune.
Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar and District Collector Naval Kishore Ram addressed a press conference today.
“As a precautionary measure, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has earmarked a total of 207 beds in ICUs as well as for isolation, at 21 places. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged all the doctors in the district to keep the information about the patients coming/returning from foreign countries, separately while examining the patients who have come to them”, Mhaisekar said.
Speaking about the two patients who have tested positive, he added, “The two patients are stable and admitted to PMC run Naidu Hospital, Pune. So far, a sample of 3 persons from their family has been sent for examination. Also, the taxi driver who ferried them to Pune from Mumbai has been admitted to the hospital.”
According to officials, the couple (whose names and area of residence have been withheld to protect identity) had visited Dubai in the last week of February as part of a 40 members group. After returning to India, they have not travelled anywhere.
“One of the two patients visited a doctor after feeling some health issues on March 8 and the patient’s sample was taken which tested visited. Since Dubai is not on the list of affected places declared by the central government, the suspected patients were not checked after returning to India on March 1. Now we are examining their family members, friends and colleagues in offices, who might have come in contact with them”, Mhaisekar further informed.
The officials said that the names and contact numbers of the 40 persons who went to Dubai with both the above persons are available to the administration and as they are residing in different districts, the concerned district administration is contacting them and taking necessary steps to check them.
In Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, a total of five squads have been formed to check information of the persons who came in contact with the above patients. The squad includes officials from revenue, health, police and staffs of both municipalities.
