Pune district on Wednesday reported 32 fresh Covid-19 cases and one fatality. This is the fifth Covid-19 death reported in the district and the third in Pune city this year, said officials.
The deceased was 81-year male resident of Yerwada. The cause of death is said to be Covid positive, renal failure, with pneumonia. He was a known case of hypertension and Myocardial infarction. The patient was admitted to Jehangir Hospital and died while undergoing treatment, said Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials.
A large number of Pune residents have been suffering from respiratory diseases recently. The Out Patients Department (OPD) of hospitals is crowded with patients complaining of symptoms mostly associated with Influenza.
The favourable environment stimuli and the fluctuating weather have fueled the surge in influenza-like illnesses (ILIs).
This has not only pushed up the number of Covid-19 cases but also influenza cases, which include H1N1 and H3N2, said the officials. The OPDs at hospitals across the city are running full of patients suffering from pneumonia, respiratory tract infections, and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) due to influenza-like illnesses.
Most of the patients complain of fever, chills, myalgia, headache, malaise, cough, and sore throat amongst others. A surge has been reported for the past two weeks.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has also reported a surge in Covid-19 cases. With COVID-19, H1N1, and H3N2 virus patients having similar symptoms, without testing it’s difficult to differentiate if the infection is a common flu or caused by any of these infections. However, very few patients are ready to get tested for Covid-19, the officials said.
Dr Avinash Bhondwe, a senior physician, said, daily over 40 patients come to the OPD with flu symptoms. These patients also include people suffering from Covid-19 infection. However, even after advice not even ten per cent of these patients get tested for covid-19.’
“People should get tested for COVID-19 as the new sub-variant is highly transmissible and one can pass this to their vulnerable family member. People should take covid-19 vaccine and also flu shots,” he, said.
Dr Bhagwan Pawar, health officer of PMC, said, given the weather change people are reporting flu-like symptoms at outpatient departments of the hospitals.
“All these patients are tested for Covid-19. We have witnessed a surge in covid-19 cases in the city but there is no need to panic. People should follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and take precautionary doses for the virus,” he said.
Dr Rhea Punjabi, medical superintendent of Inlaks and Budhrani Hospital, said the number of patients with SARI has increased and daily around 15 to 20 patients visit the hospital OPD. Most of the patients have similar symptoms of Covid-19 and other influenza illnesses. “The patients are treated symptomatically but if the patient has pneumonia we get them tested for Covid-19 or other influenza cases,” she said.
