Slum areas the focus even as sero survey says spread going down, says Mumbai civic body

While the third serological survey in the city indicated that seropositivity was on the decline in slum areas, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has maintained that slum areas remain its focus when it comes to detection of cases and vaccination

While the third serological survey in the city indicated that seropositivity was on the decline in slum areas, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has maintained that slum areas remain its focus when it comes to detection of cases and vaccination.

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According to BMC officials, focusing on slum areas becomes important considering the new variant of the current virus spreads fast, and keeping in mind the density in slum areas, one has to keep the focus intact when it comes to both - detection of cases and vaccination.

Experts also opine that another solution to control spread in densely populated slums is also to ensure that vaccination is done on a priority basis.

A serological survey indicates a population-level prevalence of antibodies against Sar-CoV-2, the virus causing the Covid-19 pandemic. It indicates that a person has been exposed to the virus and has recovered from it, but it does not detect the level of antibodies in the person.

The findings of BMC’s third serological survey released on Saturday stated that among the 10,197 samples collected in March 2021, the survey found that 41.6% of the residents of slums had been exposed to the virus, while 28.5% of people living in non-slum areas like high rises, chawls and other residential areas, had been exposed to the coronavirus.

However, in the first two surveys conducted in 2020, 57% of samples collected from the population residing in slums were seropositive in the first survey, while in the second survey, 45% were seropositive when it comes to slum areas. In contrast, 16% of samples collected from residents of non-slum areas showed seropositivity in the first survey, which increased to 18% in the second survey. This indicates that the spread in non-slum areas has increased and declined in slum areas.

In terms of areas that have maximum containment, zones are Kandivli, Andheri East, Kurla, Byculla, Chembur and Govandi. There are a total of 120 containment zones in which 165,000 households are covered having a 768,000 population.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner of BMC said, “The third ser survey does indicate declining antibodies level in slums areas, and we are focusing on slum areas where cases are increasing. We are making localised strategies, accordingly.”

Kakani added, “But this does not mean we are not concentrating on non-slum areas considering maximum cases are being reported from non-slum areas currently. Along with detection of cases, we are also coming up with strategies for vaccinating both in slum and non-slum areas.”

For example, the BMC has opened up dedicated vaccination centres for Dharavi and Worli Koliwada that were the two most hit areas last year during the first wave. For non-slum areas, the BMC has appealed to housing societies to tie up with private hospitals to get vaccinated.

On Wednesday, the city reported 4,926 cases followed by 78 deaths. This takes the total case tally to 640,409 and the toll to 12,954. The city’s recovery rate is 87% with 557,948 recoveries and a mortality rate is 2.02%. There are 67,984 active cases in the city.

Meanwhile, Dr Siddarth Paliwal, a city-based physician said, “The BMC should not only focus on the detection of cases from a slum or non-slum areas due to declining or increase of antibodies but mainly focus on vaccination now. This considering we need to understand that the long-term ultimate aim is vaccinating maximum citizens to fight with the virus.”