Mumbai: First time since April 1, Dharavi does not report any new Covid cases | Mumbai News


MUMBAI: The Dharavi Slum Colony in Mumbai did not report a single case of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
This is the first time since April 1, when the first coronavirus case was reported in Dharavi, that Asia’s largest slum has not reported any new cases in a single day.
READ: How Mumbai Dharavi flattened the Covid-19 curve
According to data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), so far Dharavi has reported 3,788 cases of which only 12 are active. 3,464 people have recovered and have been discharged from Covid centers.
So far, 312 people have died due to Covid-19 in Dharavi, according to data released by the Mumbai civic body.
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On April 1, a 56-year-old man from Dharavi’s Baliga Nagar tested positive, sparking panic and fear over the spread of the deadly virus in the dense pocket of the neighborhood. This was the first case of Covid-19 in the area.
Officials said that Dharavi had come full circle in his fight against Covid-19. From more than 100 cases a day in May and June, the number of new cases had dropped to single digits in recent months.
READ: Mumbai sees an increase in Covid cases
As of August itself, with the pocket of slums reporting single-digit Covid-19 cases and the number of active cases dropping below 100, the BMC had begun closing its 200-bed field hospital that was established in may.
The BMC also returned the privately owned Sai Hospital, which was acquired to treat Covid-19 patients in Dharavi in ​​April.
The BMC has also returned the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex and the Dharavi Municipal School that were taken over to house high-risk contacts of Covid-19 positive patients.
“There has been a lot of commitment and cooperation from the community in Dharavi. That is why we have been able to reach this milestone of zero cases, ”said Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, G-North Ward.
Our simple track, trace, test and treat formula has worked. Despite the drop in positive cases, we will continue our rigorous screening and testing campaigns to ensure that there is no further increase in cases, ”he said.
Amid the pandemic in April, the BMC had also caught about 350 local doctors who opened their clinics in Dharavi to screen residents for Covid-19.
The BMC had asked the Mahim-Dharavi Medical Professionals Association (MDMPA) to ask all its member physicians to open their clinics in Dharavi and begin evaluating patients.
The BMC had also launched a mass screening exercise throughout the slum in addition to operating free fever clinics and testing centers.

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