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Covid-19 shutdown: 45 more areas are now no-go zones
A majority of areas in western suburbs; BMC briefs health min on situation in the city
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday sealed 45 new containment or ‘no-go zones’ (areas where a patient has tested positive or close contacts of positive patients reside), bringing the tally of such spots in the city to 191. A majority of the new zones are from the suburbs. The containment zones are sealed by the civic body, with the police barricading the spots to bar the entry or exit of residents.
With the number of cases on the rise, state health minister Rajesh Tope chaired a review meeting of BMC officials on measures taken to treat Covid-19 patients, testing and isolation bed facilities. Tope was briefed about the situation in the city. Since March, the civic body claims to have completed over 6,100 tests, including those by private labs.
“The number of positive cases is higher in Mumbai because the testing facilities have increased. A lot of the patients are from the outskirts, who had approached our facilities owing to lack of testing facilities in their area. Most of the new detected cases are safe and with mild or no symptoms due to early detection,” said a senior official.
The BMC has planned to increase the total bed capacity at SevenHills Hospital upto 1,000. In a recent meeting on Covid-19, top civic officials had decided to increase its isolation bed capacity upto 2,000. The BMC has appointed 33 nodal officers across the city who will ensure food supply and logistics to be provided at 10 shelter locations made for them. The officers will have to prepare a list of people requiring shelters, shifting identified persons to shelter homes, monitoring, and also identifying NGOs to assist and ensure supply of food and other essentials.
An analysis of the total positive cases found in Mumbai shows that people with travel history and their close contacts account for more than 90% of the cases. This means that a majority of the positive cases found in Mumbai either they have a travel history or are their close contacts.
As per the BMC data, 25 patients are found to have traveled to the UAE, while 12 people had flown down from the United States.
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