Mumbai’s Covid-19 hotspots, Worli, Dharavi now see decline in new cases

Worli reported an average of 60 cases in May, which has come down to 35-40 in June. In Dharavi, the average new cases have come down from 47 in May to 27 in June.

Worli and Dharavi, which emerged as the two major Covid-19 hotspots of the city in the beginning of the outbreak, are now witnessing a decline in the number of average daily cases and surge in doubling rate, giving hope to authorities.

Health workers conducting COVID-19 coronavirus testing drive inside Dharavi slum in Mumbai. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

Worli reported an average of 60 cases in May, which has come down to 35-40 in June. In Dharavi, the average new cases have come down from 47 in May to 27 in June. The growth rates of Worli and Dharavi has come down to 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively, which are among the lowest in the city. The doubling rate of Dharavi has gone up to 44 days, while it takes 38 days for cases to double in Worli. The two areas have also reported a recovery rate of 50%.

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner of G North ward, that covers Dharavi, said, “We have separated suspected patients from the community on a timely basis, conducted screenings and aggressive testing and organised fever camps. We have identified people who were using common toilets and home quarantined them also.” Dharavi has reported 1, 924 cases and 71 deaths. On Monday, 12 positive cases were reported in the area.

Dighavkar claimed that of the 1,924 cases, around 70% had been already quarantined by the BMC.

“I don’t think that there will be a rise in the numbers after this as we are continuously screening more and more people and ensuring isolation of most of the people. We will keep doing that until there are zero cases in Dharavi.”

Meanwhile, with 42 cases reported on Monday, the total cases in G south ward, which consists of Worli, has gone up to 2,390. The final death toll figures are yet to be updated. Initially, Worli was among the worst-hit areas in the city, with cases escalating speedily on a daily basis. Sharad Ughade, assistant municipal commissioner of G South ward, said, “Densely-populated slums such as Jijamata Nagar and Worli-Koliwada had the maximum cases being reported every day, but as of today, these slums have nil or minimal cases. We only focused not only on recovery but also on prevention.” BMC claims to have screened 87, 000 people in Worli and put 4, 500 residents in institutional quarantine. Ughade also attributed the decline in cases to people’s participation.

Dr Om Srivastav, one of the doctors who are a part of the task force appointed by the state to bring down the mortality rate, said, “We will have to wait and see what kind of numbers come in the next two or three weeks. If residents continue to follow what they have been doing in the past eight weeks, such as wearing masks, sanitising hands and following social distancing norms, then we should be able to manage to flatten the curve.”