COVID-19: Growth rate in Dharavi declines; comes to 1.02% from 12%

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Sunday informed that the rate of growth of coronavirus cases in Mumbai's Dharavi has reduced to 1.02 per cent in June from 12 per cent in April. It said that proactive measures by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ensured an improved case doubling time to 43 days in May and 78 days in June.

"Being densely populated (2,27,136 persons/sq km), Dharavi had 491 cases in April with 12 per cent growth rate and case doubling period of 18 days. Proactive measures adopted by BMC reduced COVID19 growth rate to 4.3 per cent in May 2020 & further to 1.02 per cent in June. These measures also ensured an improved case doubling time to 43 days in May 2020 and 78 days in June 2020," the release by MoHFW read.

The ministry said the efforts of the Maharashtra government and BMC have shown encouraging results. As part of these efforts, they have actively 'chased the virus' and aggressively conducted targeted tracing of COVID suspects, MoHFW said. Over 2,000 coronavirus cases reported in Dharavi, Asia's largest slum situated in Mumbai.

"Several challenges presented themselves to BMC in Dharavi where 80 per cent population depends on community toilets. About 8-10 people live in households/hutment which measures about 10ft x 10ft coupled with the existence of narrow lanes with 2-3 storied houses where often the ground floor is a house and other floors are used as factories.

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Meanwhile, with 3874 fresh cases of COVID-19, Maharashtra on Saturday reported its highest single-day count of the viral infection for the third straight day. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases has gone up to 1,28,205. The death toll rose by 160 in the last 24 hours to reach 5,984 while 1,380 patients (till 3 pm, June 20) were discharged after recovery, taking the state aggregate to 64,153. As of June 20, there are 58,054 active cases in the state.

In the state capital Mumbai, 1,197 people were diagnosed with COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the aggregate to 65,265. Meanwhile, the tally in neighbouring Thane touched 23,212, while that in Palghar stood at 3,225. Pune so far has 15,286 cases while Nagpur has recorded 1,271 cases.

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