Two slum pockets in Bopodi fresh Covid-19 hotspots in Pune

PUNE: Two closely connected slum pockets in Bopodi, with about 1,000 households in total, are now the newest coronavirus hotspots in the city. Both pockets, which come under the Aundh-Baner ward of the Pune Municipal Coporation, reported 71 positive cases and one death between May 24 and June 6.

Official said 47 of the 71 cases were within just the last two days. Both slums have now been sealed.
Bopodi corporator Prakash Dhore, said, "The first case from the slum pockets was on May 24 when a nurse tested positive. She died two days later. The PMC sealed the area three days ago when the cases started surging."
There are three slum pockets along the railway line in Bopodi: survey numbers 24, 25 and 26 with an estimate total population of nearly 2,500. "Survey numbers 24 and 25 are the worst hit. In 26, there has been only one positive case," Dhore said.
Civic health officials, conducting mass screenings among the slums' at-risk residents, said they have tested swabs of nearly 450 people in the last week. "We are now awaiting test results of 88 people with comorbidities," said ward medical officer Ganesh Damale.
Nearly 80% of the households here have personal toilets. "For the rest of the 20% of households, we have been disinfecting the community toilets many times a day," Damale said.
Experts have said that community toilets in slums need to be monitored closely. “These toilets need to be regularly disinfected. The PMC should provide slums with mobile toilets as per the recommendations by central government teams that recently visited Mumbai’s Worli and Dharavi areas," said health activist and medical practitioner Sanjay Dabhade.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has declared 65 slum pockets in the city as micro containment zones. Residents of these areas are not permitted to step out of their homes or have guests over. All shops are ordered shut.
In both Pune and Mumbai, densely populated low-income neighbourhoods and slum pockets have emerged to become challenging Covid-19 hotspots because of indequate space for social distancing and lack of proper toilets.