Six Covid-19 cases, including 1 dead, in Dharavi

Richa Pinto | TNN | Updated: Apr 14, 2020, 06:59 IST

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MUMBAI: The congested Dharavi precinct recorded six new Covid-19 cases on Monday, including a death, taking the tally of patients to 49. So far, five fatalities have been reported.
Containment in the area is clearly proving a challenge, given the cramped housing and narrow interior lanes here -many cases are coming from new pockets, indicating the widening circle of infection.
"We have been able to track many new positive cases owing to rigorous screening for influenza-like symptoms. Besides, contact tracing is being done as soon as a person tests positive," said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner.
BMC has so far done a thermal survey on 13,224 locals, checking for symptoms like cough, cold and fever. Anyone in an affected area displaying these signs is being tested.
On Monday, the six new patients reported from Dharavi were a 60-year-old man from Indira Nagar, a 34-year-old female nurse in a Dadar hospital, a 50-year-old from Janta Colony, a 51-year-old resident of Murugan chawl, and a 21-year-old ward boy in a south Mumbai hospital. Another 60-year-old from Murugan chawl who died at Sion hospital also tested positive.
BMC has traced over 1,000 high-risk contacts and 3,000 low-risk contacts of those infected. The high- and low-risk contacts will now be housed in separate quarantine facilities. There are 20-plus containment zones, and six red zones in the area that are sealed with only BMC facilitating supply of essentials in these localities.