Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have decided to take up micro-containment measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus in Mumbai. Officials from the city’s D ward have begun testing vendors and hawkers at markets.
Prashant Gaikwad who is the ward officer of D ward said that they have been testing hawkers at Girgaon’s Sadashiv Lane and Bhaji Galli in Grant Road for the past two days.
“Several locals flock to these markets and therefore we decided to aggressively test the vendors and also shopkeepers in commercial establishments. Vendors could be Covid-19 carriers and so we wanted to tap infection sources,” Gaikwad said.
He added that although previous trends from D ward have shown that a majority of the COVID-19 cases are spotted in high-rises or housing societies, three new positive cases were identified in slum pockets on Tuesday. Officials in the region are justifiably concerned with daily cases nearly touching 90.
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Meanwhile ward officer from R-Central (Borivali), Bhagyashree Khapse said that the civic body has been conducting rapid antigen tests on their staff who visit affected areas of the ward. “The citizen facilitation centre is visited by hundreds of people daily. Therefore we are administering tests to them. We also have teams of doctors conducting testing at Borivli railway station,” Khapse went on to say.
As for the M-West ward, authorities mentioned that their teams are informed of bookings for wedding venues in advance, thus allowing them time to prepare and ensure that the 50 person norm is followed. “Permissions given to the concerned party are posted on local WhatsApp groups. We take action if we discover that celebrations are taking place without permission,” an official from the ward said.
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Officials from the G-North ward which covers Dadar and Dharavi have said that camps are being established in regions where cases are currently emerging. Moreover, booths have been reportedly established to make the testing process quick and seamless.
The move to take up micro-containment measures comes at around the same time as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recommendation to improve testing. “We should be proactive. Wherever necessary, micro-containment zones should be declared without hesitation,” the PM said in a virtual meeting with Chief Ministers from across the country on March 17.
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