First Covid case in Dharavi: 56-yr-old resident with no travel history dies

MUMBAI: A 56-year-old resident of Mumbai’s Dharavi, with no travel history, died on Wednesday hours after he tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19), civic officials said. The Maharashtra health department had not confirmed that he died of Covid-19 till late Wednesday evening.

The officials said the man’s death is the first such case in one of Asia’s largest slums and that eight of his family members have been quarantined and will undergo tests on Thursday. Local ward officials were tracing his contacts after it was found that he visited a nearby mosque daily.

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority colony, where the 56-year-old lived, has been sealed. Kiran Dighavkar, a local ward officer, said the person owned a garment shop and they do not 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,” he said.

A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official separately confirmed that two people from Dharavi, who attended a gathering in March at the Tablighi Jamaat’s centre in Delhi that later emerged as an infection hotspot, have been home quarantined. “We are now checking if those two visited the same mosque (like the 56-year-old).”

THE SLUM COLONY WHERE THE MAN LIVED HAS BEEN SEALED AND EIGHT MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY QUARANTINED