In addition, tourist places like Lonavala and Sinhagad will be opened to a limited number of visitors so that small businesses can operate in these places, said Pawar, who is also the district’s guardian minister.
He said that the police have been directed to keep an eye on the crowd at tourist places and more restrictions would be imposed in case of overcrowding.
He said that the Bhimasahankar Temple and the holy places under Ashtavinayak would remain open for the devotees.
In view of the current rise in COVID-19 cases, no decision has been taken on the resumption of offline classes in schools and colleges. The minister said the situation would be further reviewed in the coming week, after which a decision would be taken.
Talking about vaccination in the district, Pawar said, “Booster dose for people above 60 years of age will be available on Saturday and Sunday, while for other age groups vaccination will be done on weekdays.”
The minister said that at least 51 per cent children in the age group of 15 to 18 years have been given the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Pune district and 75 per cent have taken the dose in rural Pune.
He said that a meeting would be held with the officials of the district panchayat and representatives of industrial areas regarding the vaccination of workers.
The minister further said that though the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing, only 1.5 per cent of the patients are being treated in hospitals.
He said, “The number of people getting treatment in hospitals is very less. There is enough space available in the government hospital and even the jumbo hospital is ready. Most of the patients are getting treatment at home.”
Earlier in the day, Pawar inaugurated the COVID-19 Free Villages initiative in Pune district, launched by the Pune Zilla Parishad and the Bharatiya Jain Sangathan (BJS).
“Out of 1,898 villages, 1,347 have not yet participated in the initiative. I have asked Zilla Parishad officials to motivate villages to participate. At least 44 villages in Pune district have survived the last two waves of the pandemic. have been COVID-19 free and most of these villages belong to Bhor division.”
He said that officials have been asked to take this initiative to other districts falling under Pune division.
“I have asked divisional commissioner of Pune division Saurabh Rao to implement this initiative in Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli and Solapur districts as well,” Pawar said. Pune on Friday reported 16,618 COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day tally so far, taking the district’s total to 13,13,016, while 10 deaths raised the toll to 19,343. The district currently has 85,277 active cases, of which 2,786 patients are hospitalised.
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