WHO lauds BMC’s efforts to check Covid transmission in Dharavi

The steps taken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to contain the spread of coronavirus disease in Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum sprawl, has earned the praise of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

During a media briefing Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “In Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, South Korea and even Dharavi, a densely packed area in Mumbai, strong focus on community engagement and basic of testing, tracing, isolation and treating the sick is key to breaking chains of transmission and suppressing the virus.”

As Maharashtra completes 116 days after it recorded the first coronavirus death, the state crossed 10,000 deaths with an addition of 223 deaths on Saturday. The death toll now stands at 10,116.

It took the state 91 days to cross 5,000-mark on June 16 since it registered its first death on March 17. Only 25 days have passed and 5,000 more deaths have been added to the toll.

On the day, 23 deaths took place in Pune city and nearby areas and 11 in Pimpri-Chinchwad. In the surrounding satellite towns of Mumbai, 13 deaths took place in Thane and Mira Bhayandar each, followed by 11 in Bhiwandi Nizampur, nine in Vasai-Virar, eight in Navi Mumbai, seven in Ulhasnagar, five in Kalyan Dombivli, and three each in Raigad and Palghar.

Nashik accounted for 13 deaths, followed by 17 in Jalgaon, nine in Aurangabad, eight in Jalna, seven in Solapur, four in Satara, and the remaining in six other districts. “What is worrying is the fast-rising caseload and deaths in rural areas. Solapur, Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Akola, and Nashik continue to be of concern. Hotspots are increasing in these pockets,” a state health official said.

Even though the trajectory of fresh cases has shown a steep upward climb, the death rate has dipped in the state in comparison to new cases.