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Third Covid-19 case linked to Dharavi sets off alarm bells in Mumbai
State government officials are trying to ascertain the travel history of a 35-year-old doctor, who tested positive a day ago.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities have quarantined around 300 residents in a 14-storey building in Mumbai’s Dharavi on Friday morning. This is the third case of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) linked to the densely populated area.
State government officials are trying to ascertain the travel history of a 35-year-old doctor, who tested positive a day ago. All 25 high-risk contacts of the surgeon are being tested for Covid-19. The rest of the residents of the building where he lives have been asked to remain in quarantine until the test results of the high-risk contacts are available.
All 48 flats and three nursing homes in the building have been sealed in a santisation drive by the authorities.
Dharavi reported two other Covid-19 positive cases in the last two days, involving a 56-year-old garment shop owner and a 52-year-old BMC sweeper.
The garment shop owner, a resident of Dharavi’s Dr Baliga Nagar, had no foreign travel history but tested Covid-19 positive on Wednesday after he was admitted to Sion Hospital because of chest pain. And on Thursday, the sweeper, who worked in Dharavi and lives in Worli, tested Covid-19 positive.
Civic authorities are trying to find a link between all three Covid-19 positive cases linked to Dharavi, considered to be one of the largest slums in Asia. The BMC authorities said the surgeon had called one of the private laboratories to get himself tested for Covid-19.
“One of the private laboratories on the suburbs had tested the patient after he called. We’re preparing a list of senior citizens and those with respiratory issues. We’ll run a check on them individually to figure out how they’ve been doing,” Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner, BMC, said.
On Wednesday, around 2,500 residents of Dr Baliga Nagar were also put under home quarantine after the garment shop owner tested Covid-19 positive.
