27 August,2020 07:10 AM IST | Mumbai | Samiullah Khan
The daily count of cases in densely populated Vasai-Virar area in July used to be 300
For the first time in three months, the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) reported just 52 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The local administration has attributed this to aggressive testing, strict isolation and awareness drives.
Being one of the most populated areas in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the civic body's daily count of cases, which is 150-180, even peaked to 250 to 300 in July after Mission Begin Again started in June.
"We opened fever clinics in every ward to test every person with symptoms. This was followed by strict isolation of infected and of close contacts," said Dr Kailash Shinde, collector, Palghar district.
Dr Kailash Shinde, collector, Palghar district
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"There were clear instructions to aggressively test, isolate and treat patients wherever the rate of the infection was high. These measures were implemented simultaneously in the district and the areas that come under the VVCMC," Dr Shinde said. He also claimed that the graph of positive patients in the district has been going down for the past three weeks.
Patients are being treated in both government and private hospitals and the VVCMC has also distributed booklets containing dos and don'ts to prevent COVID-19. Apart from this, asymptomatic people were given guidelines for home quarantine, which were followed up by health workers rigorously.
These efforts started showing effect from August 2020, as the graph of cases went down, resulting in just 52 cases on Tuesday.
"This is a welcome sign for us. There are other hotspots such as Boisar MIDC and Palghar Nagar Parishad which are reporting daily cases on a high scale. We are focusing on such areas now," Dr Shinde added.
Also Read: Vasai-Virar shocker: 166 cops man 1,500 containment zones as COVID cases rise
. New patients: 52 (total count till date- 15,931)
. Death: 04 (total count till date count 334)
. Discharged: 208 (total count till date count- 13,661)
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