Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia has been a hotspot with 1,583 COVID-19 cases so far with 60 deaths. It had a doubling rate of 21 days, as of May 24, 2020, which is much lower than that of Mumbai.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had earlier announced that the doubling rate of the number of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai is 14 days. The CM said this during an interaction with doctors of BMC-run hospitals. According to the data from the civic body, on April 27, the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai was 10 days.
Dharavi as well as G-South ward, which covers one of the worst-affected slums and semi-slum areas of Worli- Koliwada, BDD chawls, Jijamata Nagar, have recorded a doubling rate of 21 days. Between April 17 and April 27, the doubling rate for G-South was 17.6 days. BMC has attributed this to aggressive screening and testing. The number of tests conducted in an area, along with the area’s population and the total positive cases forms the parameters that have been used to calculate the doubling rate.
However, 42 new cases were recorded from Dharavi, where the recovery rate is also higher than the rest of the city. On Sunday, the recovery rate in Dharavi was 42 per cent, as opposed to 27 per cent for Mumbai. As per data, 35 per cent of the cases in Dharavi were contracted within the family. The death rate of Dharavi is, however, the same as Mumbai, at 4 per cent.
The civic body has been screening people for the symptoms of coronavirus through nine dispensaries, multiple fever camps, and 350 private clinics in Dharavi. It also isolates places with active cases and seals them after sanitizing. BMC has so far screened over 4 lakh people, which is half of the total population of the area.
Share
Tweet
