Mulund sees 42% spike in single day; Dharavi records 42 new cases
The Mulund area or T ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which had one of the lowest numbers of Covid-19 cases on Monday, saw a 42% hike, with 52 cases in a single day. The tally of positive cases in Mulund is now 123. Dharavi, one of the biggest slums in Asia, saw 42 new cases on Monday taking the total count to 632.
T ward was among the top three wards including R North (Dahisar-Borivali) and C ward (Kalbadevi-Chira Bazaar) that had the lowest number of cases in the last one month. This one-day spike in the T Ward has created a worrisome situation for the civic administration.
Of the 52 infected, a majority of the cases were found in Amarnagar, Indiranagar, and Ramgad slum area. Kishor Gandhi, assistant municipal commissioner of T ward, said, “Of these, 45 cases were detected through fever clinic camps and most of them were from densely populated slum pockets.”
To detect more cases, the civic body has decided to hold more fever clinic camps in dense slum pockets. The Ramgad and Indira Nagar slums reported their first case on April 19 and April 21, respectively, and then had a breather of a few days with no new cases.
The BMC has identified 33 containment zones, with three red zones. It has released 10 containment zones as there were no new cases reported there for the last 14 days. As a precautionary measure, the civic health department has traced 530 high-risk contacts and kept them at a quarantine centre.
Dharavi, on Monday, reported 42 new Covid-19 cases, a majority of which were reported from Muslim Nagar, Janata Society, Suroday Society, and Shiv Shakti Nagar. “While screening residents in Dharavi, we have been detecting more and more infected patients. We have targeted the high- and low-risk contacts of Covid-19 patients and the new cases have been reported from these localities only,” said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of G North ward, which comprises Dharavi. The number of coronavirus cases in Dadar and Mahim increased by four and three respectively, taking the tally to 54 and 71.
On Monday, former deputy mayor Hemangi Worlikar tested positive for Covid-19. She has been admitted to a hospital and swab samples of her high-risk contacts were sent for testing.
In the G South ward, one of the worst-hit areas in the city, the doubling rate has increased to 15 days from the 10 days recorded last week. On Monday, mayor Kishori Pednekar conducted a review meeting with officials from the civic health department and expressed satisfaction over efforts taken to control the situation in Worli.
There are 1,927 total active containment zones in the city at present, of which 641 are red zones (congested, need police help), 502 are orange zones (congested but manageable), and 784 are blue zones (manageable and gated communities).