Mumbai housing societies see rise in Covid cases

The number of coronavirus cases is on the rise in Maharashtra. According to latest data, the cases have surged past 1.44 lakh and over 6,739 deaths, with 3,500 new cases emerging daily. Mumbai has reported over 70,000cases and 4,000 deaths till today. Till now. 60% Covid-19 cases have been found in housing societies and 40% in slums. Dharavi has around 5 to 10 cases daily; earlier, it was 25 to 35 cases per day. Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has marked 796areas as contaminated in the city and till now, 6,116 buildings have been sealed by the BMC.

 In order to contain the spread of virus in the state, several areas have been kept in containment zones. These are areas from where maximum cases of Covid-19 have been reported. They should not report cases for 28 days in a row to come under green zone. Mumbai is under lockdown till 30 June. The Maharashtra government has allowed some easing of restrictions under the «Mission begin again”initiatives. Some areas like Dharavi andWorli that had shown the maximum number of Covid-19 cases haveseen cases drastically reduced; now the cases are increasing in North Mumbai areas like Malad,Kandivli, Borivali and Goregaon.

As per the BMC, there is nothing to panic and these steps are being taken to restrict the virus from spreading beyond the containment zones. Essentials in these areas are provided by the BMC and other government institutions. The containment zones are determined by the BMC›s health department teams at wards who do ground-level survey, identify areas where Covid positive cases or their high risk contacts are found to be meeting criteria.

The maximum number of buildings have been sealed in the K East ward which comprises Sakinaka, Marolane airport area.Mumbai›s K East Ward has emerged as a new coronavirus containment zone. As of 20June, the number of cases in K East ward is 4,841(2,191 discharged and 2,621active), whereas 4,053(1,884 discharged and 2,144 active) positive cases were reported from K West ward of Mumbai suburban.The BMC has increased its containment zones to 796; over  6,116 buildings and chawls have been sealed and are selfmanaged by the housing societies concerned. While most cases were initially found in the slums, BMC claims that most cases are now being found in housing societies. A recent BMC report shows Borivali as the most affected place with the doubling rate at 16 days, while Dharavi is the least affected ward with a doubling rate at 76 days. Overall, Mumbai›s doubling rate at 36 days is higher than the national average of 17.4 days.

Dharavi, meanwhile, has seen its daily cases dip to 27this month, from 47 in May. On Wednesday, 10 new cases were reported in Dharavi; with this, Dharavi cases have reached 2,199. In Worli, the average number of daily cases in May was 60, which has now come down to 35-40. Worli witnessed a decline in numbers since mid-May, while the numbers in Dharavi started plunging since 1June. The authorities have attributed the improvement in Dharavi and Worli to screening the maximum number of people, isolating and testing people.