Pune: It has become clear that the lockdown will be extended further. The civic administration has started closing roads and bylanes in the heart of the city in the buffer zones (the 100-metre area around the containment zone). People are crowding places despite repeated appeals by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
High COVID-19 mortality rate in Maharashtra
Pune is in the red zone, along with Mumbai. The civic administration has increased testing per day. Therefore, the number of patients is increasing. The death ratio is still high at over 5 per cent as compared to the national and State ratios. The national death ratio is 3.2 per cent, while the State's death ratio is 4.5 per cent.
Lockdown extended
The lockdown is likely to be extended till May 31. Therefore, PMC has started closing down buffer zones of the containment areas also. The containment areas have been divided into 69 micro-zones.
Earlier, people could walk in Peth areas. Now, bylanes have been sealed with tin sheets and movements are completely restricted.
Worse situation in some areas
Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said, "We are testing over 1,000 samples per day. It will help to lower the death ratio in the coming few days. In some parts of the city, the situation has stabilised, but in areas like Bhavani Peth, it is worsening."
He said, "If people don't take precautions, the lockdown period will be extended. In non-containment areas, more relaxations may be granted. We have to concentrate more on containment areas."
Homoeopathic medicines for containment areas families
PMC will distribute homoeopathic medicines to families in the containment areas. A homoeopathic pharmaceutical company has donated medicines worth Rs 14 lakh. It will help boost immunity. 70,000 families in 69 micro containment zones will benefit.
