590 Covid cases in Mumbai’s Dharavi
MUMBAI:ASIA’S largest slum cluster, Dharavi, recorded its highest one-day spike in Covid-19 cases with 94 new infections on Sunday, taking its tally to 590. The death toll stands at 20, with two more deaths in the area on Sunday.
The first case in Dharavi, home to 850,000 people and considered one of the most densely packed areas in the world, was reported on April 1. The toll doubled from 10 deaths on April 17 to 20 Sunday.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said pro-active screening of residents was leading to the rise in numbers.
MUMBAI:ASIA’S largest slum cluster, Dharavi, recorded its highest one-day spike in Covid-19 cases with 94 new infections on Sunday, taking its tally to 590.
The death toll stands at 20, with two more deaths in the area on Sunday.
The first case in Dharavi, home to 850,000 people and considered one of the most densely packed areas in the world, was reported on April 1.
The toll doubled from 10 deaths on April 17 to 20 Sunday.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said proactive screening of residents was leading to the rise in numbers.
Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner, G-north ward, which covers Dharavi, said, “We are screening at various sources such as municipal dispensaries, 350 clinics of private doctors and tracing highrisk contacts. We have successfully screened more than 79,000 people in Dharavi, which is around 2,500 per week.”
Maharashtra reported 678 cases, taking its total to 12,974, the highest in the country. On Sunday, 27 people succumbed to the disease that has claimed 548 lives across the state.
Of the new cases, 441 were from Mumbai, which also saw 21 deaths.
Four deaths were reported in Pune and one each in Bhiwandi and Navi Mumbai. Fourteen of the patients who died on Sunday were above 60, while 13 had highrisk comorbidities.
The mortality rate in the state stands at 4.23%, down from 7.21% on April 12, but the number of deaths is increasing with 270 deaths happening in the past 10 days. The country’s mortality rate hovers around 3.25%.
The state government’s containment efforts have focused on Mumbai, which has recorded 8,359 cases and 322 fatalities. According to the BMC, there are 1,577 containment zones in the city, of which 533 are in red zone, 633 in blue and 359 in orange zone.
On Sunday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a video conference with the district collectors and divisional commissioners on the eve of the commencement of the third phase of the lockdown.
“District authorities have been directed on the strict implementation of the lockdown, especially in the containment zones. With relaxations extended in the third phase, the containment in the affected areas has become very important. The district collectors were directed to implement it strictly,” said an official from the government.
Of the total Covid-19 cases in the state, 89.19% (10,968 of 12,296) and 85.6% of the deaths (446 of 521) are from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad as on Saturday.
Malegaon municipal corporation area has been added as a hot spot with 219 cases and 12 deaths reported till Saturday.