900k people, 241 zones: Mumbai’s mega plan Door-to-door survey at heart of govt’s Dharavi strategy
Containmen zones
nMUMBAI: One of the worst Covid19-affected cities in India has activated 474 teams across 241 containment zones and checked at least 900,000 people as part of its plan to stop the spread of the Sarscov-2 virus through human-tohuman contact. As of 9 pm on April 3, Mumbai had 278 positive cases and 18 deaths – the highest for any Indian city – according to data released by Maharashtra’s nodal state health department.
Each team comprises two or three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) staffers, and is mandated to identify a containment zone, conduct door-to-door surveys, and get a questionnaire answered by all residents in that zone. In Mumbai, a containment zone means at least one person from the area tested positive for Covid-19. The patient’s family and the building are identified as a cluster zone and at least four to five adjoining buildings on all sides are mapped in the containment zone, depending on the area’s population density. The greater the population density, the wider the radius of containment zone, a BMC health official explained on Friday.
According to BMC protocol, the family and immediate neighbours of positive patients are tested, as they are considered high risk. Other residents of the building are considered low risk and are simply asked to be in home quarantine. They are also asked to keep a tab on emerging symptoms. Residents of adjoining buildings in the containment zone are also surveyed. Entry and exit from a containment zone is restricted and severe lockdown protocols are put in place.
“Each of these teams identifies at least 50 high risk cases per day,” a senior BMC health officer said. “These high risk persons are direct contacts and who have fever, cold, cough, breathlessness, etc. Depending on severity of the symptoms, we advise testing and visiting the closest Covid-19 hospital.”
City health officials said this protocol differs from the guidelines issued by the Centre for identifying clusters and containment zones on account of Mumbai’s high population density (32,303 persons per square km). A senior civic officer said: “BMC has been given permission to draw up its own guidelines.” Across all other districts in Maharashtra, however, clusters are identified only if at least three persons are found to be Covid-19 positive in the area. Following that, an area of 3 sq km is screened.
At present, BMC’S health officers said, 300 of the 474 teams are on the field at any given time.
BMC said it is uses video analytics software on top of the live footage it receives from 5,000 installed closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras across the city to monitor human movement in a containment zone. “No one is allowed to roam around in a containment zone,” said an officer involved in executing the containment zone strategy. “If the software spots any movement in the feed, the disaster control room is alerted. We are also updated on the instances of human movement and crowding. We activate the disaster management team and they ensure that people don’t move out. If people move out regularly, we are mandated to take action against them. Food and essential items are being delivered to persons in the containment zone.”
In addition to regulating movement, BMC said on Friday that it will start medical camps at the perimeter of containment zones. As no resident living in the containment zone is allowed to exit, any person showing symptoms of Covid-19 can approach the medical camp. “Patients with other illnesses can also approach the medical camp for a quick diagnosis, and referral to a hospital,” a health officer said.
nMUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said it has a containment plan in place for Dharavi, India’s largest slum, after concerns grew on Friday following a third person was detected with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Dharavi recorded its first death on April 1, with two more positive cases recorded in the next two days, including a surgeon on Friday.
The 240-hectare slum pocket has 850,000 residents and a population density of 66,000 per square kilometre, making it one of the more cramped spaces in Mumbai, the world’s fifth most densely populated city according to United Nations. Activists and health workers had expressed concerns over how social distancing is practically impossible in an area where an average of 10-12 people stay in each of the 57,000 housing units measuring around 250 sq ft.
However, the BMC, which runs the city’s nodal health department, said on Friday that its officers had a containment plan in place for Dharavi almost a month ago. “We ran a house-tohouse survey to get the actual figure of the slum dwellers to keep our amenities ready,” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner (health), BMC. “This helped us list high-risk people living with co-morbid issues such as cardiac ailments, respiratory problems, hypertension and diabetes, among others.”
Kakani said municipal workers, armed with this data, have been scouting for vacant places to isolate patients and vulnerable individuals. There is also a group of 800 community health volunteers in place. Until Friday even
There are 474 teams to identify containment zones, conduct door-to-door surveys, and get residents to answer questions
Number of cases in Mumbai
Number of deaths in Mumbai
Number of containment zones in Mumbai
Kandivali
Bandra
MUMBAI
Dadar
Colaba ing, over 3,000 people from Dharavi had been home quarantined, with regular food packets being distributed by the BMC. However, there were complaints that these rations included only wheat, rice and lentils, but not oil and vegetables. “How are people supposed to eat without basic essentials like oil, salt and vegetables?
Andheri
Dharavi
Sanjay Gandhi National Park
Powai
Vikhroli
Chembur
officers said, 00 of the 474 teams are on the field at any given time BMC said it uses video analytics software to monitor human movement in a containment zone They can’t even go out to buy them,” said Qamruddin Sheikh who runs a non-government organisation- Bal Vikas Shikshan Sanstha in Dharavi.
“We are also starting health clinics where medical officers will check slum residents if they develop any symptoms,” another senior health officer told HT.