Covid-19: Maharashtra looking to create more no-go zones

With the total number of Covid-19 cases breaching the 1,000-mark, the state government is now focused on containment and increasing testing capacity.

With the total number of Covid-19 cases breaching the 1,000-mark, the state government is now focused on containment and increasing testing capacity.

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The state officials said the positive cases are increasing in urban areas – mainly Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad – and so the focus will be on creating containment zones in these areas.

In the past four days, Mumbai has seen a jump of 265 cases from 377 positive cases on April 4 to 642 on April 7. While Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad saw a rise of 69 cases between April 4 and April 7, Thane and Palghar districts have seen a steady rise from 77 positive cases on April 4 to 99 cases on April 7.

The state government is working on the 3-Ts mantra –tracking, testing and treatment. The state health department has made a strong case for testing more people as a proactive step.

State officials said the other municipal corporations in the MMR will now replicate the containment zone that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started to curb the spread of the virus outside of a cluster. Soon, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Mira-Bhayander, Vasai-Virar, Panvel, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad will have containment zones and areas will be sealed if positive cases are found.

On Tuesday, BMC commissioner Praveen Pardeshi gave a presentation during the state cabinet meeting on the containment zones in Mumbai. So far, Mumbai has 241 containment zones, including Worli Koliwada and parts of Dharavi, which have been sealed. A portion of Kala Nagar in Bandra East, where chief minister Uddhav Thackeray resides, has been sealed after a tea vendor tested positive for coronavirus on Monday.

“The shutdown by the state government and subsequent lockdown announced by the Centre has helped us control the spike that was expected in the first week of April. The figures that we see today are under control. However, we are prepared to tackle the growing numbers,” an official said. The state government through various agencies has taken over hotels, hostels, schools, universities to be converted into isolation facilities.

Another Mantralaya official said the cases are increasing in densely populated areas. “Besides tracing, we want to start testing aggressively. We are soon starting antibody tests to ascertain how many people have been infected by the virus, but developed antibodies to fight it. The BMC has started Safe And Fast Evaluation Swab Technique’ (SAFEST) machine at Kasturba Hospital, allowing for safe and rapid testing for Covid-19. Through this, we can collect 1,500 swab samples for increase testing capacity. Similar machines would be set up elsewhere,” the Mantralaya official added.