10 wards account for 64% of cases in a week, cause for worry for BMC

Ten wards, which reported 5,315 or 64% of the total cases (8,242) from June 22 to June 29, remain crucial for the city, a week after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Ten wards, which reported 5,315 or 64% of the total cases (8,242) from June 22 to June 29, remain crucial for the city, a week after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the number of Covid-19 cases may have plateaued in Mumbai.

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For the past few days, the number of daily new cases is in the range of 1,000 to 1,300, which indicates it may have reached a plateau. However, while the civic body has managed to check the outbreak in initial hot spots such as Worli and Dharavi, these 10 wards, with a sharp surge in cases, remain cause for concern. The wards cover Bhandup, Mulund, Malad, Andheri East, Borivli, Ghatkopar, Andheri West and Kandivli in the suburbs, and Dadar, Mahim and Parel in central Mumbai. In this period, the highest number of cases (829) was reported in S ward, which covers Bhandup, Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg and parts of Powai, taking the ward’s total to 4,381 on June 29 from 3,552 on June 22.

Santosh Dhonde, assistant municipal commissioner of S ward, said, “There is a spike in the number of cases because of three reasons. Firstly, there is a lot of movement due to relaxation of lockdown. Secondly, we have increased screening and testing. We are easily screening more than 1,000 citizens daily by organising 10 medical camps daily. Also, now cases are coming from high-rises due to relaxations. Earlier, the ratio of slum and high-rises was 80:20, but it has now become 50:50.”

BMC recently launched a rapid action plan to curb spread in the suburbs, including Dahisar, Borivli, Kandivli, Malad and Mulund.

Another area of concern is P-N ward (Malad), which was the second highest (675) in the cases reported in the past one week.

A BMC official from the ward said, “The number of cases has increased, considering we have increased screening under the rapid action plan launched on June 22.”

The other three wards that are in the top 10 list include K-E ward covering Andheri East that was third highest in the number of cases (621), taking its total to 5,242 from 4,621, followed by T ward covering Mulund reporting 592 cases in the past one week and R-C ward covering Borivli (521) cases.

Vishwas Shankarwar, deputy municipal commissioner of zone 7 covering the western suburbs, said, “We have conducted 70 medical camps since the past one week as part of the rapid action plan and have identified 191 people suspected to be having Covid-19. Of these, over 25 have tested positive, and other reports are pending.”

Shankarwar said, “We are not seeing an unusual spike, but one has to also consider that these are the areas where cases were not being reported earlier. It is due to this that we are now seeing those cases coming out, and also in the case of R-Central ward, we are finding many cases from hospitals who go for treatment of non-Covid-19 issues, but are later found to be positive. However, overall, there is no unusual spike.”

Among the other wards in the top 10 list are N ward covering Ghatkopar with 442 cases in the past one week, followed by K-W ward covering Andheri West reporting 423 cases, R-S ward covering Kandivli reporting 416 cases, F-S ward covering Parel, Lalbaug reporting 408 cases and G-N ward covering Dadar, Mahim and Dharavi reporting 388 cases.

The eastern suburbs (six wards) covering areas such as Mulund, Bhandup, Kanurjmarg, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Mankhurd and Govandi reported 2,593 cases last week, followed by the western suburbs (nine wards) covering areas such as Dahisar, Borivli, Kandivli, Malad, Goregaon, Andheri and Bandra reporting around 3,585 cases. Central Mumbai covering areas such as Parel, Worli, Dadar, Matunga, Dharavi and Sewri reported 1,277 cases. Meanwhile, in the past one week, 817 fresh cases were reported in south Mumbai that includes areas namely Colaba, Churchgate, Charni Road, Kalbadevi, Malabar Hills, Nagpada, Byculla, Mazagaon.

On Wednesday, Mumbai recorded 1,487 fresh cases and 75 new deaths. The city’s case tally rose to 79,145, while the toll touched 4,631. The number of discharged patients in Mumbai is 44,791, with a recovery rate of 56.59 %. Further, active cases stood at 29,715. The fatality rate as of Wednesday was 5.85%, and doubling rate of 42 days.

Starting Wednesday, BMC launched its sero-surveillance drive in densely populated slums of Ganpat Patil Nagar in Dahisar and a slum pocket in Govandi. The survey will also be conducted in Dadar, Matunga and Wadala.

Sero-surveillance is conducted to diagnose individuals for antibodies of Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, and monitor the spread of the virus. During sero-surveillance, residents undergo blood tests to detect the presence of IgG antibodies, which develop against Sars-CoV-2. For this, a total of 10,000 blood samples will be collected.

BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal on Wednesday also issued a circular with guidelines for salons and beauty parlours, stating that BMC, from time to time, may take localised decisions to regulate opening of non-essential shops. The BMC chief also added that for shopping of non-essential goods, citizens should go to nearby shops, adding that long-distance travel will not be permitted, reiterating the Mumbai Police’s order of citizens not travelling beyond 2km for purchase of non-essential goods. However, BMC has said that exceptions will be allowed on humanitarian grounds and medical reasons.