Yank down Covid death rate to zero

As the Pune division again shot past Thane in Covid-19 cases and deaths, a central panel on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government to bring down the mortality rate to zero, officials said here.

The central team head Kunal Kumar also suggested that corona patients must be given quick and effective treatment.

Besides, he asked that all Covid death causes must be thoroughly investigated and efforts must be taken to bring down the death rate to zero in the state.

Kumar’s recommendations came at a meeting to review the Covid-19 status with Pune Divisional Commissioner Dr Deepak Mhaisekar, Officer on Special Duty Saurabh Rao, Pune Collector Naval Kishore Ram, Pune Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar, PMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Rubal Agarwal besides top medical officers of major hospitals in Pune.

The central team which included Arvind Kushwaha and Dr Simikanta Banerjee also appreciated the measures taken by the Pune administration in the Covid war, but urged that measures should be taken to reduce the stress on the health workers and corona warriors.

Emphasising on the need to follow guidelines of ICMR, the team said CCTV must be installed in hospitals, psychiatric treatment must be given to patients and asymptomatic patients must be encouraged for home quarantine as far as possible.

On his part, Mhaisekar said that the government has introduced health insurance scheme for all medical workers, besides the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Kalyan Yojana is benefitting all patients in the state.

While CCTVs are being installed as per the state government orders, Rao said that the administration has taken into confidence the medical associations to help save each patient’s life.

The administration, along with the corona warriors, has resolved that they would work in full swing over the next 45 days to tackle the Covid-19 crisis, he added.

After a month’s interval, Pune division on July 27 again shot past Thane district to the second spot (after Mumbai district) in terms of Covid-19 cases and fatalities, though Mumbai district deaths fell to the fourth spot after Raigad, Pune and Thane for the first time since the pandemic erupted in March.