Mumbai: Dharavi sees 30 cases, most since September

Dharavi on Thursday recorded 30 fresh Covid-19 cases for the first time since September 11 last year when it reported 33 cases in a single day

Dharavi on Thursday recorded 30 fresh Covid-19 cases for the first time since September 11 last year when it reported 33 cases in a single day. Dharavi now has a total of 4,382 Covid-19 cases, over 315 deaths, and 140 active Covid cases.

Dharavi now has a total of 4,382 Covid-19 cases, over 315 deaths, and 140 active Covid cases. (HT PHOTO)

Over the past few days, daily cases in Dharavi have been increasing, for the first time since their decline over five months ago. In the past week, Dharavi has reported over 15 cases every day, up from around ten cases before that, and cases in single digits over the past few months.

Active cases in the slum pocket had dropped to as low as 20 cases, crossed the 100 cases mark on March 10.

Reacting to the spurt in Covid-19 cases, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) adopted several measures to contain the spread of the virus in Dharavi, during its peak in May. These include organising fever camps to conduct free tests for the population of the slum, testing via mobile vans, and door to door screening.

The Dharavi slum is spread over 2.4 sq km, has a population of 653,000 lakh, but it is estimated that its actual population is 850,000 due to unaccounted migration, with a population density of 354,167 per square kilometre, compared to Mumbai’s population density of 20,634 people per sq km. About 80% of its population depends on 450 community toilets in the locality.