No Covid deaths in 5 Maharashtra districts for over a month

PUNE/NASHIK: Covid fatalities may not be declining as rapidly as the cases in Maharashtra, but five districts in the state have not reported a single death due to the contagion in a month.
Three of these districts — Dhule, Nandurbar and Jalgaon — are in the north Maharashtra region. The other two districts are Hingoli in Marathwada and Gadchiroli in Vidarbha.Health officials said improved testing and tracking of the patients, besides early treatment, had led to more recoveries.
Dhule district reported its last Covid fatality on June 8. Nandurbar and Jalgaon reported the last casualties on July 8 and July 16, respectively. Since July 20, both Hingoli and Gadchiroli have not registered any Covid deaths.
State surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate confirmed that these districts had not reported a single death in more than a month, but said the local geographical and demographic profile had a major role to play in this.
He said, “It is not that there is something very different being done here. These districts are much smaller in comparison to the districts such as Pune or Solapur. Moreover, there is not much urbanisation and the districts are sparsely populated.. All these districts have just four talukas, while Pune has 11. The population is also much lower there compared to some of the bigger districts.”
A tribal-dominated district in north Maharashtra, Nandurbar was the worst hit during the initial phase of the second wave of the pandemic. It is now a Covid-free district with no new cases. Led by then collector Rajendra Bharud, Nandurbar was the first district to have its own Pressure Swing Adsorption Oxygen generation plant in Nashik division earlier this year.
Dhule district has had an impressive Covid control experience. Recently, it was also a Covid-free district for a brief period. Though the district has since reported a couple of cases, it has among the lowest Covid deaths and infections in the state.
Dhule’s district coordinator for Covid, Dr Vishal Patil, said the state was witnessing a decline in cases almost everywhere. “But our intense testing, tracking and treating throughout the pandemic helped us reduce the cases fast. Since the patients even with mild symptoms were presented in an early stage, there was no chance for them getting critically ill. We carried 2,500-4,000 tests per day. The aim was to ensure that no one was left out,” said Dr Patil.
Jalgaon district had also witnessed a higher number of patients in the second wave of the pandemic. But an aggressive approach to isolation and quarantine arrangements, along with surveillance of the people with comorbidities, had helped the administration keep the number of critical patients in check.
“The state government's' My Family My Responsibility’ survey provided us with the data of people with comorbidity. The administration ensured special attention for them. We managed to curb the spread of the infection through intense testing and tracking of the close contacts,” Jalgaon civil surgeon Dr N S Chavan said.