Slums see surge in patients who are not high-risk contacts: BMC
DATA Number up to 6,174 on August 3 from 4,041 on June 29; BMC rules out community transmission, says source could be interlinked
MUMBAI : From June-end to the first week of August, the city’s slums have seen a 53% rise – 6,174 on August 3 from 4,041 on June 29 – in the number of Covid patients, who are not high-risk contacts of earlier positive cases or those whose source is not yet identified, data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) revealed.
BMC officials denied the possibility of community transmission, wherein people get infected, even if they are not in contact with an infected person, stating the source in the 6,174 cases is in a way interlinked with the earlier positive cases, but it has not been able to establish it.
Of the 6,174 cases, 3,370 cases are from slums in the suburbs – Kurla (545), Malad (544), Dahisar (536), Andheri West (628), Mulund (524) and Bhandup (593). Areas such as Bandra West and Bandra East have only 44 and 31 such cases, respectively, followed by Marine Lines and Dongri with 44 and 21 cases, respectively.
A senior BMC official from the public health department said, “The spread in those who are not high-risk contacts of those testing positive is due to layers of contacts or via common touch points. There is no community transmission in the city, and also community transmission cannot be announced by BMC, but only by the state or Central government.”
Manish Valanju, assistant municipal commissioner of L Ward that covers Kurla, said, “We are tracing 19 high-risk contacts behind every positive case in slums. However, we cannot trace and quarantine every person in the vicinity, considering many also come under the bracket of low-risk contact. It is possible that these people have got infected through common touch points. Also, many times those testing positive in slums do not give information about their high-risk contacts.”
Kishore Gandhi, assistant municipal commissioner of T Ward that covers Mulund, said, “In slums, many do not give correct information due to stigma. On a daily basis hundreds use the same toilet that a positive patient might end up using. We trace maximum closest contacts from slums, but not all.”
BMC had launched an initiative, ‘Chase the Virus’, on May 26. Among other targets, ward officers were given the task of tracing or “chasing” maximum contacts of Covid-19 patients, moving them to institutional quarantine facilities, and breaking their contact with the community
OF THE 6,174 CASES, 3,370 CASES ARE FROM SLUMS IN THE SUBURBS SUCH AS KURLA (545) AND MALAD (544)
around them. From the earlier target of 10 high-risk contacts for every one Covid-19 patient, BMC increased it to 15. Currently, on an average, BMC is tracing up to 10 to 20 high-risk contacts per positive patient across the city. Overall, BMC has traced 19.95 lakh contacts, of which 7.05 lakh are at high risk.
Dr Siddarth Paliwal, a private health consultant from the city, said, “If those testing positive in slums are not high-risk contacts of Covid patients, there is a possibility that they are low-risk contacts. In this case, we need to monitor the low-risk contacts, too, for symptoms, considering there is a possibility of them carrying the virus further, especially with the relaxations.” Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Mumbai recorded 1,125 fresh cases and 42 new deaths, taking the city’s tally to 119,240 and toll to 6,591. The number of discharged patients in Mumbai was 91,673 with a recovery rate of 76.88%, and active cases stood at 20,679. The fatality rate was 5.52%, and the doubling rate 80 days. Dharavi, an earlier hot spot, recorded only one new case, bringing the area’s case count to 2,589, of which 2,254 have been discharged. On August 4, Mumbai conducted 7,244 tests, taking the total tests to 5.67 lakh, with an overall positivity rate of 20.83%.