For the first time since September last year, Mumbai's G North (GN) ward, which covers the Dharavi, Dadar and Mahim, has recorded more than 100 fresh COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.
On Thursday, GN recorded a total of 102 cases, of which 41 cases were from Dadar, 31 cases were from Mahim and 30 cases were from the slum belt of Dharavi. This is the highest single day case count reported from this ward in 2021. This is also the highest number of cases Dharavi has reported in a single day since September, 2020.
After the cases started to fall in October, last year, GN had been reporting between 20 to 50 cases daily for more than three months. However, in February, this ward began recording a spike in the number of cases. And, for the first time in the past six months, GN has recorded a single day case tally in three digits.
Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner and in charge of the GN ward, has said that the high number of cases is the result of aggressive testing that is being done by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). “We are conducting nearly 300 tests daily. For every single positive patient, we are tracing nearly 25 to 30 close contacts,” Dighavkar said. He added that tests are being conducted regularly in more than 20 different locations in his ward.
At present, there are a total of nine permanent health camps in GN where free tests are being conducted. Alongside this, health officials are also arranging testing camps regularly and organising door-to-door visits in mobile vans. “Earlier, the fresh cases used to be of patients who had attended social gatherings or had a history of traveling. However, now, patients who are going out to office and markets are also testing positive,” Dighavkar added. He also maintained that presently the cases are reported in a scattered manner and not in clusters.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner and in-charge of public health in BMC, has said that vaccinating maximum people at the earliest is the topmost priority of BMC. "Although the situation at GN is well under control, we are still planning to vaccinate maximum people at the earliest before things get worse like last year," Kakani said. Presently, there are 673 active cases in GN ward. So far, 14,950 cases have been reported from this ward.