Coronavirus outbreak: G south ward tops tally at 68

The rise to 68 cases happened in less than a week. While cases in the city earlier had international travel history, the breakout in Jijamata Nagar, Siddharth Nagar, Janata Colony and Koliwada was not caused by the same

Coronavirus outbreak: G south ward tops tally at 68

Civic authorities are conducting special screenings in Worli to test people for Coronavirus. Pic/Ashish Raje

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) G south ward, which has been in the news as a hotspot for Coronavirus in Mumbai, has recorded the highest number of cases 68. While Mayor Kishori Pednekar hails from the area, Environment and Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray is the local MLA.

Buildings in Worli BDD chawl, Delisle road, Prabhadevi station road and Aadarsh Nagar have been sealed and the administration is struggling to provide essentials to households on time. The BMC has been sanitising containment zones regularly and has set up Special Screening Camps for collection of swabs of those showing symptoms, said officials.

Former MLA and local Shiv Sena leader, Sunil Shinde, said, "We are providing people with essentials and attending to complaints. The containment in slums is our priority and thus the authorities have sealed entire areas where the spread can be faster and social distancing is not possible." Meanwhile, the E ward, which comprises Byculla, has the second-highest number of cases at 44. B ward, which covers Masjid Bunder, has the lowest number of cases — four — so far.

Special screenings
To identify Coronavirus patients locally, screenings were done at 10 locations from where 112 swab samples were collected. The clinics were set up in densely populated areas and in the vicinity of 'Containment Zones' like Koliwada and Jijamata Nagar. The screening clinics, set up in coordination with the Medical Health Officer, are being manned by a doctor and a nurse.

170 cops around Matoshree isolated

The Mumbai police and a team of BMC have sealed the area around Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's residence, Matoshree in Kala Nagar, Bandra after a tea vendor and his son tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

Thackeray's home and the entire area has been sanitised and entry and exit to the area have been blocked by the police. Around 170 police personnel have been isolated
at BKC's Uttar Bharatiya Hall.

"We have put barricades and some of the police personnel have been sent into isolation as a precautionary measure," said Manjunath Shinge, DCP, Zone VIII.

Police and health workers are tracing people who might have visited the tea stall — which is the only one operating in the area — and isolating them or stamping them with home quarantine. Most police personnel deployed near Matoshree visit the stall. Zonal officers did not respond to queries about the tea stall operating amid a lockdown.

- Faizan Khan

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