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Mumbai’s Dharavi area sees 15 new coronavirus cases, 1 death
Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claimed the city saw 77 cases, its lowest in 12 days, Mumbai’s emerging hotspot, Dharavi, saw 15 new cases on
Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claimed the city saw 77 cases, its lowest in 12 days, Mumbai’s emerging hotspot, Dharavi, saw 15 new cases on Friday, bringing the total count to 101. Also, a 62-year-old man from the area was declared dead at Sion hospital, pushing the toll to 10.
Before this, the lowest count for the city was 72, reported on April 5.
The slums in Dharavi are spread across an area of more than 240ha and house around 8.5 lakh residents. With a population density of 66,000 per sqkm, it is one of the most cramped areas of the city. Of the 15, three new cases were reported in Matunga labour camp, Muslim Nagar and Indira Nagar, two at Social Nagar and one each at Dr Baliga Nagar,Laxmi Chawl, Janata society and Sarvoday Society, said a BMC official. BMC officials confirmed that most cases found in Dharavi were high-risk contacts of positive patients and have been quarantined.
Of the total cases, the highest (21) have been reported in Muslim Nagar, followed by Mukund Nagar (18) and 10 in Social Nagar.
On Thursday, Dharavi saw its highest spike in the number of patients, with 26 new cases. The first case in Dharavi was reported on April 1, following which there has been a rapid surge in the number of positive cases, which may soon pose a challenge for civic authorities. There are fears that the number of cases could be higher, as many people with symptoms may not have been tested yet.
Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of the G-North ward, said. “Till date, we have almost screened 33,000 patients and marked 34 containment zones with six red zones. We are screening almost all high- and low-risk contacts of the patients.” Meanwhile, the BMC plans to ramp up testing, with measures such as more testing centres, fever clinics, drive-through centres, parking lots and private lab testings.
The BMC has completed 35,500 tests across the city so far, an average of 2,697 tests per million. It has traced 57,700 contacts of positive patients, of which 2,120 have tested positive. While 57,700 people have been advised home quarantine, 11, 368 people have completed the 14-day quarantine period. The civic body said that it has started seven Corona Care Centres - Level II, which have a capacity of 519 beds, and 473 patients who are positive, but asymptomatic are isolated.
