Pune: 34 new cases of Coronavirus Positive patients today, tally reaches 531
Pune, April 17, 2020: As per the latest information available with the district health officer (DHO), there are 34 new Coronavirus Positive patients in Pune district today till 5 pm. The total number of patients has reached 531 now.
Out of 531, there are 446 patients from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) area, while 49 are from Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and 36 from Pune rural. A total of 47 persons have lost their lives including 45 from PMC, 1 from PCMC and 1 from Pune rural (Baramati). 42 persons have been cured and discharged from hospitals.
According to the state health department, 288 new cases of corona have been reported in Maharashtra on Friday. Seven people died from COVID19 today. There are a total of 3204 cases of coronavirus in the state so far out of which 194 people have died.
The Maharashtra government had sought permission from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for pool testing, rapid testing and plasma therapy to expedite the investigation of corona cases but has not received approval for it yet. Despite this, Maharashtra is relieving the reduction in deaths from Corona for the last two days.
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope has claimed that Maharashtra has not received a sufficient number of N-95 masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits. He said that eight lakh N-95 masks and 50 lakh PPE kits were sought but only one lakh masks and 30,000 PPE kits have been received.
Maharashtra has the lowest number of deaths in the past week from Corona on Thursday. Of the seven people killed, three are from Mumbai and four from Pune. A total of 177 new cases were reported in Mumbai on Thursday, of which 26 are from Dharavi. The number of corona-positive cases has increased to 86 in Dharavi. In Govandi-Mankhurd, another densely populated area in Mumbai, the number of corona positive patients has increased to 103. In Mumbai, the number of very severe areas affected by corona has also increased to eight.
According to state Health Minister Rajesh Tope, the mortality rate of corona patients in Maharashtra is one of the highest in the country, but the main reason for the patients having diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases etc. Maharashtra has so far tested 51,000 people. This is 50 percent of the investigations being conducted across the country. Half of the investigations being conducted across Maharashtra are in Mumbai. Testing is being done in 15 government and 15 private laboratories in the state. The investigation will be started in six more laboratories soon. Maharashtra has also sought permission for plasma therapy from ICMR, which plans to treat the remaining patients from the plasma of 300 cured patients so far.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Housing Department on Friday asked landlords to postpone rent collection from tenants for at least three months due to the lockdown. According to CMO Maharashtra, during this time no tenant should be evicted from the rented house for not paying the rent.
