Wards in Thane city see steady decline in daily Covid-19 cases

Thane city, which has a mere two per cent active Covid-19 cases, has seen a decrease in number at the ward levels too. Most wards like Vartak Nagar, Wagle Estate, Diva, Lokmanya Nagar-Savarkar Nagar, Naupada-Kopri, MajiwadaManpada and Mumbra have a growth rate of 0.2 per cent or less. These are wards with higher population and have seen a spike in cases last year. Except Uthalsar, which has a growth rate of 0.3 per cent cases, the number of positive cases in the city is in control.

Increased door-to-door survey and contact tracing with a focus on moving population led to the decrease, claimed Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) officials.

Dr Raju Murudkar, medical health officer, TMC, said, “Despite the decrease in the number of cases, we have ensured that the number of fever clinics or testing continues to be the same. With every Mission Begin Again, we ensured that the moving population was tested. When shops and malls reopened, we started testing the shop owners and the staff. Similarly, we increased testing facilities at railway stations for passengers from outstations.”

In the last one month, Diva, Mumbra and Wagle Estate saw a decrease in Covid cases, only a handful of cases were reported from these wards. Meanwhile, Kalwa, Lokmanya Nagar-Savarkar Nagar, Uthalsar and Vartak Nagar saw fewer than 15 cases on a daily basis. Similarly, the number of cases within Majiwada-Manpada and Naupada wards is consistently below 25 cases on a daily basis. The Majiwada-Manpada wards saw more than 120 cases daily in mid-August. It spiked to more than 150 daily in October. However, by the end of December, the daily cases were below 25.

Similarly, the highly-populated slums in Lokmanya Nagar-Savarkar Nagar have curtailed the number of positive cases with the help of their fever clinics.

A special survey was conducted to identify those above 50 years. A direct communication with them was established and their health was constantly monitored. This helped in reducing the fatality rate.

“The initial struggle was in the slums, where social distancing, sanitisation and general hygiene were difficult to follow. Not only did we get all the medical officers, ward officers and councillors together to slow down the spread of the virus but also we identified Covid Yodhas – youngsters from within the community to compensate for shortage of workforce. The Yodhas focussed on educating the citizens about hygiene and precautions. Moreover, they ensured the distribution of immunity boosters and conducted surveys for those with symptoms,” said a TMC officer.

Lokmanya Nagar-Savarkar Nagar ward saw more than 50 cases on a daily basis in midJuly. This peaked in the first week of October.

However, from December, the number of positive cases on a daily basis has come down to below 15 cases.

Wards like Diva, Mumbra and Wagle Estate have less than 10 cases daily since the start of this year, while Vartak Nagar, Uthalsar and Lokmanya NagarSavarkar Nagar areas had between 10 and 20 cases on a daily basis in January. Wards like Naupada-Kopri and Majiwada-Manpada with large moving population had between 20 and 30 daily January first week.