Covid-19: Worli is Mumbai’s worst-hit area

The civic body has deployed 22 teams and checked more than 50,000 people for Sars-CoV-2 in Worli (G-South ward), which became Mumbai’s worst-hit area, with 11 new

The civic body has deployed 22 teams and checked more than 50,000 people for Sars-CoV-2 in Worli (G-South ward), which became Mumbai’s worst-hit area, with 11 new cases taking the tally to 68 on Monday.

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After a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) sweeper from Worli Koliwada tested positive on April 2, civic health staffers swung into action and screened more than 50,000 people, said BMC officials.

From Monday, the BMC initiated a second survey of all homes in the area, with the help of doctors from KEM Hospital in Lower Parel.

Civic commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said: “The number of cases in this particular area is increasing. So we have imposed a strict ban on movement. We are rigorously tracking high-risk and low-risk contacts.”

Civic health officials said a team of four members identified containment zones in the area to conduct door-to-door surveys for suspected patients.

Beyond the containment zones, the BMC has surveyed buffer zones, where the virus might have spread. As part of this survey, 320 high-risk contacts have been identified and quarantined at the local Potdar hospital for 14 days.

Shiv Sena deputy leader Sachin Ahir said, “We are shifting suspected patients to quarantine centres with the help of BMC staff. We are preparing a quarantine facility of 500 beds in the parking area of the racecourse club.’’

On Monday, Dadar saw another case of Covid-19 – a 54-year-old woman who lives at SK Bole road. Two buildings of the colony where she lived have been contained and the local ward office is sanitising the area.

The BMC has quarantined all high-risk contacts, and their test results are awaited. The travel history of the patient is being investigated. This comes a day after a 60-year-old man tested positive for Covid-19, a few hundred metres away in Shivaji Park. The patient had no travel history.

A total of 150 suspected patients were admitted to civic-run hospitals across the city, of which 57 tested positive.

The rise in number has been attributed to the Tablighi Markaz in Delhi.

The civic body has asked all those who attended the event to inform the BMC by calling on 1916, failing which action will be taken.

“Overall, through contact-tracing measures, the BMC has surveyed 15 lakh people till Monday evening and referred 665 contacts for testing. Also, five teams have collected 1,400 samples through home visits. This method has helped identify 130 patients,” said Dr Daksha Shah, deputy director, health department BMC.

Ten special clinics have been set up at the periphery zones by doctors, nurses and lab technicians, which were used to collect 112 swabs of high-risk contacts on Monday.

Following directions from the Central Zoo Authority after a tigress tested positive in New York, the Byculla zoo authorities have decided to closely monitor all animals in the zoo and conduct tests, in case any animal shows any symptom.

(Inputs from Mehul Thakar and Sagar Pillai)