MUMBAI: Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum located in the country’s financial capital Mumbai, on Thursday reported second confirmed covid-19 case in less than 24 hours. The patient is a 52-year-old sanitation worker with the city corporation who was assigned the Dharavi area but lives in adjacent Worli, a corporation official said.
“A second confirmed case of covid-19 infection has come from Dharavi. The patient has no travel history. More details will be given shortly," said Vijay Khabale-Patil, public relations officer at Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).
Maharashtra has been witnessing rising number of coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. The tally of total covid-19 patients in the state now stands at 339 infections and with 14 deaths, according to the public health department of Maharashtra.
The news comes after a 56-year-old man, resident of Dr Baliga Nagar, slum rehabilitation society in Dharavi, succumbed to the deadly virus late on Wednesday. The victim showed symptoms like fever, cough, respiratory issues and had no travel history. He was moved to Sion Hospital in the city after complaining of fever on 23 March. Doctors said the deceased had underlying conditions that led to renal failure.
Seven of his family members were put in quarantine and their test reports were awaited, Mint reported on Wednesday. The slum rehabilitation building he stayed in had also been sealed. The building has around 300 flats and 90 shops, all of which are now sealed.
The spread of the highly contagious virus in Dharavi is alarming, as it is home to over one million people who live in cramped spaces and matchbox-like establishments in an area that spans about 0.82 square miles. Compared to Mumbai’s population density of 76,790 per square mile—the highest in the world, Dharavi has 8.69 lakh people per square mile, making it a potential hotspot for the spread of coronavirus.
According to the public health department of Maharashtra, as of Tuesday, out of 7,126 laboratory samples, 6,456 were negative and 335 had tested positive for coronavirus, making the state the worst affected by the pandemic.
On Thursday, three other new covid-19 cases were reported today in the state - 2 in Pune and 1 in Buldhana, besides the positive case in Dharavi. This takes the state's tally of positive infections to 339.
"As a preventive measure and control preparedness of novel coronavirus disease, isolation wards have been created in all district hospitals and government medical colleges in the state," the state’s health department said in a press statement.