Sena hails 'victory' against coronavirus in Dharavi

    Mumbai, Jun 24 (PTI) With the number of new COVID-19
cases from Dharavi slum sprawl in Mumbai trickling down to a
single digit, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday hailed the "defeat"
of the coronavirus as a befitting reply of the party-led
government to its critics, an oblique reference to the BJP.
    Dharavi, which was once a troublesome coronavirus
hotspot, had on Tuesday reported just five new cases, the
lowest since April 5. The total number of cases now stands at
2,189.
    "Controlling the spread of the the pandemic in Dharavi
calls for celebrations. Those criticising the MVA government's
handling of the COVID-19 crisis should also be invited for the
celebration," said the editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
    It said the difficult task to curb the spread of
coronavirus in Dharavi has earned accolades for the state
government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),
which is ruled by the Sena, from the Centre.
    The Sena also thanked residents of Dharavi for
adhering to the lockdown norms and following various other
measures.
    Commenting on the strategy adopted in Dharavi, the
edit said the BMC administration increased testing and tracing
of contacts and also made lockdown rules stricter.
    The Sena also praised BMC commissioner I S Chahal and
Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh for the Dharavi
success.
    "However, the war against the virus is not yet over.
Cases are rising elsewhere in Maharashtra," it said.
    With the highest population density of 2,27,136
persons per sq. km, Dharavi had 491 cases in April with the
growth rate of 12% when the number of cases were doubling
every 18 days.
    As per an official release, the proactive measures
adopted by the BMC brought down the COVID-19 growth rate to
4.3 per centin May and further down to 1.02 per centin June.
These measures also ensured an improved case doubling time to
43 days in May and 78 days in June 2020.
    It listed challenges like common toilets, high
population density, narrow lanes and crammed neighbourhood,
which made it difficult to ensure that people adhere to social
distancing norms.
    "The BMC adopted a model of actively following four
T's Tracing, Tracking, Testing and Treating. This approach
included activities like proactive screening.
    "While 47,500 people were covered by doctors and
private clinics in house-to-house screening, about 14,970
people were screened with the help of mobile vans while
4,76,775 others were surveyed by BMC health workers," the
release said.
    Fever clinics were set up for screening high risk
category such as elderly/senior citizens, which helped to
screen 3.6 lakh people, it said.
    "About 8,246 senior citizens were surveyed and as part
of its policy of 'timely separation', they were separated.
Altogether, 5,48,270 people have been screened in Dharavi. The
suspected cases were shifted to well organized COVID Care
Centres and Quarantine Centres," the release said. PTI MR
NSK NSK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)