Coronavirus update: 56-year-old man dies of Covid-19 in Mumbai’s Dharavi, colony sealed off

Coronavirus update: The colony, where the 56-year-old man resided, has eight buildings with 308 flats and 91 shops. The local ward office said no one will be allowed to go out of the colony as food and essentials will be provided by the civic body.

A 56-year-old Dharavi resident with no travel history died of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) late on Wednesday, civic officials said, after he had tested positive for the infection (Sars-Cov-2) earlier in the day.

Daily wage earners mostly from UP relax after all warehouse and iron brake workshop and ship breaking business closed down at Darukhana Rati Bandar during the 21-day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus in Mumbai. (Vijayanand Gupta/HT Photo)

The state health department, however, was yet to confirm the death as due to Covid-19 at the time of going to press.

The man was the first such case in the area, one of Asia’s largest slums, even as eight of his family members have been quarantined and will undergo tests tomorrow. Local ward officials are tracing his contacts as it was found that the deceased visited a nearby Jama Masjid daily.

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The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) colony, where the 56-year-old used to reside, has been sealed. The colony has eight buildings with 308 flats and 91 shops. The local ward office said no one will be allowed to go out of the colony as food and essentials will be provided by the civic body.

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The 56-year-old had reported of a cough on March 23 and had visited the local clinic there. Following this, on March 28, the patient had complained of chest pain and underwent treatment at Sion Hospital. The test results of the patient arrived on Wednesday, after which, he was moved from Sion Hospital to Kasturba Hospital.

All high-risk contacts of the patient have been stamped and quarantined. A senior civic official said, “The close contacts of the patient are being tracked. This is a sensitive area considering the dense population here. Due to this, we have sealed the entire building.”

“The person has a garment shop in AKG Nagar. We still don’t know how he got infected. We have sealed 300 flats along with 90 shops in the area. All senior citizens’ samples will be tested for the virus. We will provide rations to the building. No one will be allowed to come out until the people test negative for the virus,” said Kiran Dighavkar, ward officer.

(with inputs from Eeshanpriya MS and Rupsa Chakraborty)