Pune COVID-19 Death Rate Down from 9.18 Pc to 6.5 Pc in 1 Week

Pune, Apr 25 (PTI) Amid the continuous rise in COVID- 19 cases in Pune in Maharashtra, the silver lining is that the mortality rate from the infection in the state's second largest city was down from 9.18 per cent on April 17 to 6.5 per cent on Friday, said officials.

As on Friday, there are 980 COVID-19 cases in Pune municipal limits and 64 people have died of the infection, they said.

"The number of cases may be increasing but the number of deaths are going down. While mortality rate on April 17 was 9.18 per cent, it is 6.5 per cent, (64 deaths out of 980 cases), as on April 24," said Pune Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad.

However, worryingly, the 6.5 per cent death rate is still higher than the Maharashtra numbers, which stand at 4.8 per cent, or the national average of 3.2 as on April 24.

Gaikwad said the mortality rate had got better due to improvement in contact tracing.

"Suppose out of 30 samples, 8 results come positive, within four to five hours, the high-risk contacts of positive persons are being traced and placed in quarantine," he said, adding that emphasis on house to house surveys in hotspots and early detection of cases were also ensuring the deaths from the infection were going down.

"To ease pressure on Sassoon Hospital, non-critical and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases have been shifted to other facilities. This is making more beds available in Sassoon," he said.

Of the 64 deaths, Sassoon accounts for 50, as per PMC data.

Meanwhile, Dr Subhash Salunkhe, technical adviser to the government on pandemic control, said a decision to distribute hydroxychloroquine tablets in the hotspots will be taken on Monday.

Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said quarantine facilities have been made for people living in congested homes and areas, and asked people with comorbidities to take extra care.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)