Pune: Rs 41 lakh sanctioned to step up Covid testing at Sassoon hospital

“We will also sanction funds for setting up machines for upping Covid-19 testing,” he said. Deshmukh was accompanied by Zilla Parishad CEO Ayush Prasad, the state technical advisor on Covid-19 and members of the Pune Covid-19 taskforce during the visit.

An amount of Rs 41 lakh from the DPDC funds, Deshmukh said, has been sanctioned for stepping up testing at BJMC.

On Monday, as many as 770 samples were tested for Covid-19 of which 66 tested positive for the infection. Overall, BJMC has tested 1.96 lakh samples so far of which 23,993 were found positive for the virus.

Sassoon hospital, he said, has a 550-bed facility for Covid-19 patients and was currently treating 137 patients, of whom 68 have an active infection. A case-based presentation was made by the doctors at Sassoon hospital. Authorities said the training would be stepped up for doctors at dedicated Covid care hospitals and Covid Care Centres for better patient management.

“The hospital authorities said cross-referrals from private hospitals continued, and that too at a late stage when it was difficult to save patients with complications. Towards this end, a proper and updated referral protocol will be created, so that referrals are made on time, and then, based on several criteria, a doctor can decide which facility a patient can be referred to,” Ayush Prasad, ZP CEO, said.

Sassoon hospital will also revive new posts and submit a proposal for manpower upgrade, officials said.

Testing increased

PMC medical chief Dr Ashish Bharati said they were testing 4,000-5,000 samples daily, while contact tracing had also been upped.

“Our teams are personally checking people who are Covid-19 positive and in isolation at their homes. This is to ensure that they are observing rules of home isolation,” Dr Bharati said.

Currently, there are 17 swab testing centres and 20 private laboratories in the city and people with cough, cold and influenza-like illness can get tested at these centres. There are 72 fever clinics.

On Monday, 4,414 samples were tested in PMC areas of which 328 were found positive. Currently, there are 2,902 active infection cases in the city.