Dharavi reports 288 deaths due to Covid-19, 161 of them in May

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Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases have crossed the 3,000 mark in densely-populated Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums, which has reported an uptick in daily viral outbreak cases in the last 10 days.

However, Covid-19-related deaths have gone down on a month-on-month basis. A total of 288 deaths have been reported in Dharavi until September 14, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) latest data.

The maximum number of deaths in Dharavi due to the viral infection was reported in May.

Data showed that the slum cluster reported 69 deaths in April, May (161), June (33), July (10), August (13) and two until September 14.

Dharavi falls in G North ward of the BMC, which also covers Dadar and Mahim. There has been a consistent decrease in Covid-19-related mortalities in Dadar and Mahim on a month-on-month basis.

In April, Dadar had reported two deaths, followed by May (30), June (34), July (44), August (17) and seven until September 14.

Mahim had recorded five deaths in April, May (39), June (29), July (11), August (23) and two until September 14.

BMC’s G North ward has reported 532 deaths until September 14.

BMC officials said there has been an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the last few days because of the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions, which were enforced since end-March in a bid to prevent the outbreak, and an aggressive testing mechanism.

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner of BMC’s G North ward, said, “The number of Covid-19-related deaths has come down. The improved case fatality rate (CFR) suggests that we have been able to detect the viral infection among patients in the initial stages. We are also conducting free testing camps.”

He added: “There has been an uptick in Covid-19 cases Dharavi in the last few days. This is because of increased testing and unlocking. A total of 33 new Coviod-19 cases were detected on September 11 among migrant workers, who have returned to the slum cluster because of easing of the lockdown restrictions. More cases came to light following contact tracing.”

In August, Dharavi had reported 229 Covid-19 cases, as compared to 243 until September 19. The congested slums had reported 75 cases of viral outbreak between September 1 and 10. While the corresponding figure between September 11 and 19 stands at 168.

Source: Hindustan Times