Civic officials say no surge in COVID-19 cases in slums; closely monitoring houses that are locked
Health workers screening for COVID-19 at Dharavi. Civic officials are keeping a close eye on the closed houses in the area. File pic
The civic body has said it will keep a track of reverse migration to ensure testing is expedited where needed. Under the state's My Family, My Responsibility initiative, locked houses were being watched closely and as the survey is still on, whether or not reverse migration has happened can be identified, said officials.
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The civic administration is preparing for the expected second wave and already has all necessary provisions in place just like it had in April. They are now closely monitoring the population returning from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan, as several houses in Dharavi are still locked. Out of the 1.2 lakh houses surveyed over two months, around 29,000 were locked and we will visit the houses again, said civic officials.
Also Read: Second COVID-19 wave won't affect Dharavi as badly as first one: BMC
So far, there is no rise in cases in slum areas as opposed to high-rises and non-slum areas. However, wherever reverse migration is identified, we will begin aggressive testing and quarantine of patients, said officials.
BMC sources revealed that it has tested about 1 lakh people across the 244 testing centres in the city, and merely 2 per cent were found to be positive.
"We are all prepared with quarantine facilities and COVID care centres just like before, when the virus first struck the city. Our entire infrastructure is on standby to fight the pandemic. We will be checking migrants to ensure there is no spread of infection, and as the state government has given clear directives on domestic travel it will be easier to identify reverse migration," a civic official said.
Moreover, civic employees, who were deputed to their parent departments before Diwali, have now been instructed to get back on COVID-19 duty.
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