PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry saw its higher ever COVID-19 spike with 59 cases in the last 24 hours (from 10 am on Tuesday to 10 am on Wednesday), taking the total tally in the UT to 461.
Releasing this information on Wednesday, Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao said while 58 cases were from Puducherry region, one is from Mahe region of the UT. Testing has been enhanced with 441 samples tested in the last 24 hours in comparison to an average of 250 per day earlier.
Presently, 276 people are undergoing treatment, of which 263 are in Puducherry region (173 at the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Research Institute (IGMCRI) and 89 at JIPMER), eleven in Karaikal GH and one each in Yanam GH, Mahe GH and in Cuddalore GH.
In all, 176 patients have been discharged after recovery including 11 patients on Wednesday. The fatalities remain at nine. Till now, 13435 samples have been tested, of which 12835 have been negative and the test results of 174 are awaited.
The Health Minister said mobile units would be sent to villages to test swabs from June 25 to identify prevalence of COVID-19 as several cases are coming from the rural areas. People in villages may not be aware of the COVID-19 symptoms and there could also be asymptomatic cases, he said.
With the Centre giving directions for testing people in containment areas, the mobile unit would specifically concentrate in those areas which were containment zones recently and also from where a number of patients tested positive for the virus. He said the mobile units would also be deployed in the outlying regions of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam from June 26.
COVID care centres are being established in private medical colleges and in Mahatma Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Dental Sciences where asymptomatic patients and those with mild symptoms would be admitted and taken care of.
As per the decisions taken by the government, private medical colleges would also take up testing of COVID-19 samples as well as establish COVID care centres.
Lt Governor expresses concern and advises people to be cautious
Lt Governor Kiran Bedi expressed concern over the surge in patients and said it would soon rise to 100 cases a day if people failed to observe social distancing, wearing of masks and sanitizing of hands.
She said the management of private industries should also ensure that workers in their factories adhered to lockdown norms and wear masks, carry out sanitation and maintain social distancing. Citing one or two industries which were found to be the cause of several COVID-19 cases in Puducherry, she said that people should be very cautious particularly while going to markets and other places.