On Friday, Dharavi had registered only six new coronavirus cases
With 21 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, Mumbai's Dharavi, Asia's largest slum, still remains an area of concern even after reporting a sharp drop in the number of cases on Friday. The total number of COVID-19 positive at Dharavi is now at 241, with 14 deaths. Dharavi, with a total area of 2.1 square kilometre, is home to seven to eight lakh people who live in tiny tenements.
The 21 new cases have been reported from areas like Dharavi Koliwada, Mukundnagar, 60 Feet Road, Shanti Sivan Cooperative Housing Society, Kunchi Kurvenagar, Indiranagar, Kalapataru Cooperative Housing Society, Kalyanwadi, Socialnagar, Rajiv Gandhinagar and the Matunga Labour Camp.
Many of these areas have already been designated as 'containment zones' according to Mumbai's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municpial Corporation or BMC, and according to authorities cases being reported from 'non-containment zones' is a bigger worry as that means the virus is spreading to newer areas.
According to authorities in Dharavi, nearly 1.5 lakh of the population are in containment zones with essentials, medicines being delivered to their doorstep. Municipal Authorities have also organised dedicated fever camps in the area and have screened over 50,000 people and referred people for isolation and testing as well.
The use of community toilets in Dharavi has been identified as one of the factors that may have led to a sudden spike in the number of confirmed cases in the area. Officials said that the findings of an inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) led officials to the role of community toilets in the spread of COVID-19.
On Friday, Dharavi had registered only six new cases, which was substantially less than Thursday's 25.