Mumbai: Dadar's COVID-19 numbers set to overtake Dharavi's

The civic body managed to control COVID19 in the countrys largest slum Dharavi but its increasing spread in nearby Dadar and Mahim has become a challenge The areas mainly consist of buildings with an uppermiddleclass population that has scope for social distancing But the total caseload of the two is nearly equal to Dharavis while the number of active case is four times moreThe areas belong to the same ward G North In Dharavi the BMC had employed tracing tracking testing and treatingKiran Dighavkar assistant commissioner G North ward along with his team had initiated proactive screening instead of waiting for patients The success story was praised by the central government and the World Health Organization in JulyThis month the ward office has Dadar and Mahim comprising Shivaji Park flower and vegetable markets and shopping hubs on its hands While Dharavi is reporting three to eight cases daily since July Dadar has been reporting 3035 daily cases on average There are 101 active patients in Dharavi whereas Dadar had 452 active patients as of September 8Unlock increased casesDuring the lockdown residents judicially observed social distancing There were days when thered be zero cases in Dadar and Mahim Even traditional markets for flowers vegetables and shopping stores were closed But as Unlock started cases started increasing said DighavkarHe pointed out that crowds have also increased at Shivaji Park and attributed the rise in cases to increased testing too However the death rate has seen a substantial decline and 80 per cent of Dadar and Mahim residents are asymptomaticDighavkar said that they are trying to identify the infection at an early stage by doing maximum tests Testing camps are being arranged in buildings every day35Average no of cases reported in Dadar every dayWorms found in fruit served to COVID patientsPatients at the COVID care centre in ITI College in Ulhasnagar were shocked to find insects in the fruit salad given to them on Tuesday evening After the incident was posted on social media officials from the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation promised to take action in the matterPrathamesh Bagade 24 one of the COVID patients admitted at the isolation centre on Monday said We were given some fruits in the evening After eating a couple of apple slices I saw that there were several worms in the papaya The patient who was in the next bed also found worms in his fruit When we complained the nurse said that it was the contractors fault he said Bagade added that while the staff had offered him another bowl of fruit he felt too nauseous to eat and refusedWhen contacted Municipal Commissioner Dr Raja Dayanidhi said the matter had been brought to his attention We have issued a show cause notice to the contractor and once we get his explanation we will take action accordingly he saidKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news