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Rise in MMR cases cause for Covid concern
The spread of Covid-19 in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has emerged a major cause for concern, with the number of cases crossing 62,000 in Thane district.
The spread of Covid-19 in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has emerged a major cause for concern, with the number of cases crossing 62,000 in Thane district.
On Thursday, Kalyan-Dombivli recorded 524 cases and nine deaths, taking its count to 14,598 and toll to 225. The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) recorded 413 cases and 13 deaths on Thursday, pushing the total to 14,832 cases and 523 deaths. With 6,208 active cases, Kalyan-Dombivli is leading in the district, followed by 6,028 in Thane. These are cases recorded by the civic bodies. The health department tally is different owing to reconciliation.
The corporations now plan to implement the Dharavi model.
The cases began to rise steadily since June, when the Mission Begin Again started. Thane city started to see a rise of 300-400 cases, while Kalyan-Dombivli saw a drastic increase in the past fortnight. Navi Mumbai, too, crossed 10,546 cases on Thursday. An official from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) said, “On Thursday, we saw 273 new cases and four deaths, taking the total to 10,546 cases and 322 deaths. The recovery rate in Navi Mumbai is better than the neighbouring city – 6,520 people have recovered, with the recovery rate of 62%. The active cases are now at 3,704.”
After Kalyan, NMMC on Thursday started rapid antigen testing at its dedicated Covid hospital in Vashi. Antigen testing centres are also set up at NMMC hospitals at Nerul and Airoli.
Abhijit Bangar, the newly appointed civic chief, said, “Antigen tests will primarily be conducted for free on high-risk contacts. I have ordered that the testing centres be set up at the 23 urban health posts of NMMC.”
The civic body has 40,000 antigen test kits and will procure 60,000 more such kits. Bangar said they have also asked the government for one lakh kits.
Along with the three major cities, Ulhasnagar city is also seeing a spike. It has recorded 5,046 positive cases and 74 deaths, with the active cases at 1,999. The city recorded 202 cases on Thursday.
Bhiwandi, on the other hand, saw a dip since July, recording 63 cases on Thursday. Its total stands at 2,967. In June, Bhiwandi saw more than 100 cases a day. However, the Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) recorded the highest number of deaths (14) on Thursday. The city has 168 deaths till now. “Most of the deaths are reconciliation figures, received from those taking treatment outside the city,” said Pankaj Ashiya, commissioner, BNCMC.
Ambernath, which stated implementing the Dharavi model of Chase the Virus, from Thursday, has the least number of active cases (415). Ambernath recorded 41 new cases on Thursday, taking the total to 2,870 and deaths to 111. Badlapur city saw 90 more cases, taking the total to 1,703. Meanwhile, in the Thane rural area, the zilla parishad has asked villages that do not have a single case in 28 days to hoist a green flag in the gram panchayat. Moreover, all those who have come in contact with a positive person should be mandatorily checked. Thane rural has 1,972 active patients, with the toll at 99.
Hiralal Sonawane, CEO, Thane zilla parishad, said, “At least 15 people who have come in contact with a positive person should be tested and isolated. A plan has been set in motion for what should be done each day after a patient gets admitted. This includes tracing contacts, testing and isolating them, providing treatment to the patients and so on. All of this should be implemented mandatorily and a daily report should be submitted to the district health officer.”
