COVID-19 in Mumbai: Number of sealed buildings in city increases to 1,169

People wait in a queue for a free meal programme for the poor at Sant Kakkayya Road in Dharavi on Saturday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The number of active micro-containment zones, in the form of sealed buildings, has rapidly increased from 650 on April 1 to 1,169 on April 16. The second wave is hitting the city hard. The BMC claims that 80 per cent of the active cases are in home quarantine. And so, containment measures are to be followed scrupulously.

According to officials, the second wave is yet to affect the slums. Around 80 slums were in containment zones on April 1, and about 97 were contained on April 16. The majority of slums are in R-South ward that comprises Kandivli (24 slums are in containment zones). This is followed by E ward, which covers Byculla, where 14 slums are sealed. A total of 99,000 households with a population of about 4.5 lakh people are living in 97 affected slums across the city.

Furthermore, in plush areas such as Andheri, Girgaum and Malabar Hill, active cases are high. The highest number of sealed buildings is recorded in the K-West ward that includes Andheri, Jogeshwari and Vile Parle West. These areas have 273 micro-containment zones. D ward, which includes Malabar Hill and Girgaum areas, has a total of 247 sealed buildings. A total of 1.57 lakh households are affected across these 1,169 micro-containment zones, affecting a population of about 5.9 lakh citizens.