Pune: Dandekar Bridge, Paanmala areas on the Sinhgad Road have emerged as the new hotspot areas of coronavirus outbreak in the city. A total of 359 COVID-19-positive cases have been detected in this area in the past month.

Since the first patient was identified on March 9, there were several slums and densely populated areas in the city which recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections. Some of these areas included Bhavani Peth, Yerawada, Kalas-Dhanori, Tadiwala road etc. All these hotspots were in the east or northern parts of the city. After two and half months of lockdown and stringent measures, including social distancing, institutional quarantine, etc., the number of patients in these areas have started declining. 

Paanmala area is becoming a major cause of concern for the civic administration as the number of COVID-19 positive patients identified here in the last ten days has increased to 179. This is alarming because, till May 13, only 14 persons had tested positive in the Sinhagad Road ward office jurisdiction of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The total COVID-19-positive persons have reached a tally of 423 in this ward office jurisdiction so far. 

Apart from 179 in Paanmala, 93 persons have tested positive from Janta Vasahat slum pocket. Out of them, 57 are from Survey Number 130 in Dandekar Bridge area, and another 30 are from Rajiv Gandhi Nagar area. This implies that 85 per cent of the infected persons are staying in the Neelayam Bridge to Parvati Water Station area on Sinhagad road. The third-largest cluster is the Raikarmala area. 

SINHAGAD ROAD WARD OFFICE:
Total - 423 
Newly identified in the last ten days - 179 
Badly Affected Clusters: 
Paanmala - 179 
Dandekar Bridge - 57 
Rajiv Gandhi Nagar - 30