Maharashtra: Aurangabad civic chief tests COVID-19 positive month after taking vaccine

Photo for representational purpose

Aurangabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner Astik Kumar Pandey, who took his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine last month, has tested positive for the disease, a civic official said on Monday.

Pandey's report came out positive for the viral infection on Sunday. He has mild symptoms and is currently under home isolation here in Maharashtra, the official said.

The district reported 1,508 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, taking its tally to 88,489, another official said.

The new cases include 887 from the Aurangabad city and 621 from rural areas of the district, he said.

Thirty deaths due to the infection were also reported on Sunday, pushing the toll in the district to 1,788, he said.

A total of 1,458 COVID-19 patients were discharged on Sunday, taking the total number of recoveries in the district to 71,340, he said.

As of now, there are 15,361 active COVID-19 cases in the district, he added.

The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation has kept function halls in the city on a standby for converting them into COVID-19 care centres if required, municipal health officer Dr Neeta Padalkar said.

"Currently, there are 800 beds available with us (in civic-run facilities) and 1,000 more can be arranged in case of an emergency. If they are get occupied, we will start arranging facilities in the function halls also, where we can manage about 2,000 patients," the official said.

She said they have adequate staff for the purpose. With the vaccination process being opened up for people aged 45 and above, the municipal corporation has set up immunisation centres in all 115 civic wards of the city, the official said.

She said their aim is to inoculate over one lakh people in two weeks.

"Each ward comprises about 10,000 residents and nearly 30 per cent of them are above 45 years of age. We are planning to reach out to all of them to get them vaccinated," she said.

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