Superspreader events, lockdown fatigued tourists drive up caseload

SATARA: On June 29, the Yashwantrao Mohite Krishna Cooperative sugar factory in Satara’s Karad taluka held its elections for its board of directors. Over 47,000 farmers from the villages located in the five talukas located in Satara and neighbouring district, Sangli, came together to cast their vote.

Forty-three year old Santosh Kapurkar, a farmer from Rethre Budruk village in Karad taluka, Satara, was an active campaigner and volunteer in what is one of Western Maharashtra’s most prominent agricultural elections. At the time, Satara district was on Level 3 lockdown, which meant that no large gatherings were permitted and shop timings were restricted to 4 pm. On July 4, Kapurkar died.

In Karad, the numbers had been receding, but a spurt followed the elections. In the week between May 9 and 15, for instance, Karad recorded 1,438 cases. Then they rose again: from 1,139 cases between June 6 and 12 to 1,722 between June 27 and July 3. In the week between July 4 and 10, the new cases recorded from Karad taluka alone were 2,042 — this, even as other talukas in Satara were reporting a declining trend. In June, as candidates campaigned, Karad’s numbers accounted for 21% of all news cases in the district; by July 18, it accounted for 30% of the district’s total count.

To be sure, the election was only held after the Bombay High Court’s order (it was issued before the start of the second wave), but a thousand or more of voters often gathered at sabhas during campaigning in June; often, Covid-appropriate behaviour was not followed.

Rise in numbers

“Karad is the most densely populated taluka in the district and is a trade and market hub, not just for Satara but for neighbouring Sangli and Kolhapur as well. During the first wave too, Karad was one of the most affected talukas. The sugar mill elections also added to the rise in cases. We did act against people for not wearing masks and filed FIRs under IPC and Disaster Management Act,” said Karad Tehsildar Amardip Wakade. At least 14 First Information Reports were filed in the second half of June while election campaigning was ongoing, Wakade said.

Dr Indrajit Mohite, who runs a private clinic in Karad and who also contested the election said that while all restrictions were stipulated, it was difficult to adhere to them. Mohite led the Rayat panel, one of the three panels contesting the election. The Rayat panel lost the election by over 15,000 votes.

“We knew that it was a grave mistake to conduct the elections in this season. Even though Section 144 is in place, which means no more than five people can gather at one area, the sabhas saw large gathering and even for door-todoor rallies, one candidate would take at least three-four supporters. It was not possible to follow Covid appropriate behaviour. Before the elections, we had over single digit cases reported in the Taluka, but post-election we reported even 100 cases daily,” he said.

But the elections are not the only reason that drove up the numbers. Soon after the lockdown eased in several parts of the state, tourist destinations — many of which are in Satara district — began to witness an influx of people. Not everyone followed Covid norms. Although tourist sites remain shut according to state directives, popular destinations including Mahabaleshwar, Wai, and Kaas plateau, are often crowded during the weekends.

Cause for concern

As of July 23, Satara district reported 210,000 cases and 5076 deaths due to the Covid pandemic. District officials peg the start of the second wave in April, after neighbouring Pune began to record a meteroic spike in cases. Satara reported 24,080 active cases on May 12: its highest active cases count.

According to collector and district magistrate Shekhar Singh, the rise in cases began at Phaltan and Khandala talukas which abut Pune district.

“Satara saw its second wave peak in the month of May. As of now Satara is under Level Four restriction,” Singh said.

State and district officials are also keen to monitor the crowding at tourist spots and Section 144 remains in place.

“We have issued orders and made it mandatory for tourists as well as hoteliers to ensure that they have a negative RT-PCR report when they enter the taluka. Hotel staff has to undergo RAT tests every 10 days. Along with the tehsil office, the council and the local police also penalise people found roaming around without masks or sneaking into popular tourist points despite barricades. With these efforts in place as of now Mahabaleshwar is reporting only 1-2 new Covid-19 cases daily,” said tehsildar Sushma Chaudhari.

“Satara is now seeing a downward trend in terms of Covid-19 cases, but the primary reason why the number did not fall as much as we would have wanted is basically because people refuse to follow the Covid-19 appropriate norms. The weekend crowds at the tourist spots and thousands of farmers gathered for election rallies — these events facilitated the spread,” said civil surgeon Dr Subhash Chavan.

According to Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, a migrating population from Pune and Mumbai led to a spurt of cases in the district.

However, while Pune saw its declining trend in June, Satara still reports a higher than state average positivity rate which qualifies it to remain a district of concern.

The weekend crowds at the tourist spots and thousands of farmers gathered for election rallies facilitated the spread. DR SUBHASH CHAVAN,