The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is all set to deploy 1,488 special police officers (SPOs), as volunteers for tracing close contacts of COVID-19 patients. A total of 743 teams with two in each team will be set up for the purpose, said Additional Municipal Commissioner Rubal Agarwal.
He said, “The SPOs can be used for contact tracing… a total of 743 teams with two in each team can be set up for the purpose,” reported Indian Express.
A PMC official told ToI that these officers will be given basic training on how to trace, approach and interview close contacts.
The PMC has currently deployed sanitation inspectors and staff from ward offices to trace contacts. They have so far traced over 3.47 lakh contacts of which 1.08 lakh are high-risk and 2.39 lakh are low-risk contacts.
Meanwhile, as many as 1,510 new coronavirus positive cases were reported in Pune on Wednesday, which took the count of patients in the district to 42,836, a health official said.
The death toll in the district reached 1,176 with 35 persons succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours, he said.
"Of the 1,510 new cases, 818 were from areas in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, where the overall tally of COVID-19 patients has gone up to 29,494," the official said.
A total of 746 patients were discharged from hospitals following their recovery during the day.
With 433 new cases in neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad, the tally in this industrial township grew to 8,853, he said.
According to the official, the number of positive cases in rural parts of the district, areas under the Pune Cantonment Board and the civil hospital have risen to 4,436, he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
