The COVID-19 Case in Mumbai’s Dharavi is a Major Cause of Concern

The man who tested positive for COVID-19 in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum has passed away. He was shifted to the Sion hospital on Wednesday evening. 

The 56-year-old patient had no travel history and owned a garment shop. The building where he resided- Dr. Baliga Nagar SRA society, has been sealed. The building is located in the redeveloped part of Dharavi and has around 300 flats. All the flats and the 90 shops have been sealed. 

The other members of the family have been quarantined and will be tested on Thursday.  All those who came in contact with him have been quarantined by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation authorities. 

This case is a cause of concern as ‘Dharavi’ is one of the largest slums in Asia. The slum houses over a million people in its 5 square kilometer area. It is lined with millions of slums, bylanes and located alongside open sewers. 

Meanwhile, in Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital, two nurses have been tested positive. One of the nurses had come in contact with a COVID-19 patient. “All the medical staff who came in direct or indirect contact of the affected nurse and the connected patient have been identified and quarantined as per the protocol. We have conducted direct and indirect contact tracing and swab testing is in process,” the hospital said.

Mumbai is emerging as one of the major Coronavirus hotspots in the country. It witnessed a sharp spike in the number of cases yesterday. 59 people tested positive in just one day. At present Maharashtra has 300 plus Coronavirus cases while 16 people died due to the virus.