Mumbai: Amid the ongoing battle against COVID-19 , Mumbaikars can take heart from the fact that many of those who were quarantined away from their homes and families are now being sent home. What’s more, the civic body has also released several areas or buildings from containment zones.
In one such major development late on Thursday, as many as 129 Worli Koliwada residents were welcomed home by their neighbours and cops after they completed their 14 day-quarantine at the Poddar Isolation Centre in Worli.
Moreover, 27 people from the ward, who tested positive for COVID-19, have also returned home after recovering. "We thank these 129 people for co-operating with us throughout their quarantine period.
Everyone knows that G-South ward has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases; but today we want to share that a total of 27 people in the ward who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered and have been discharged.
The number of those who have recovered will only increase in the next two-three days. Our teams are working tirelessly to ensure that the outbreak is contained," said Sharad Ughade, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of G (South) ward.
As the group of 129 walked towards their respective homes, police personnel on guard stood up and clapped for the returnees. From their windows and balconies, other residents of the area also joined them in welcoming their neighbours. The Worli Koliwada containment zone, which is the worst affected area in Mumbai, recorded 389 cases as on April 17.
This is almost 19 per cent of the total of 2,120 COVID-19 cases reported in Mumbai. The return of those who have completed their institutional quarantine period comes as a ray of hope for others. "It is great to see all of them coming back. After a few deaths due to coronavirus, the entire locality is under fear.
All these 129 people have tested negative and returned home after 14 days. Our struggle still continues, as we continue to be in containment zones. We all pray that this coronavirus just vanishes, and life gets back to normal," said Anita Koli, a local resident.
Meanwhile, the number of cases reported in the G (South) ward, which includes Worli Koliwada, has come down significantly. From 52 cases that were reported on April 14, the number came down to 11 on April 16 and further down to 9 cases (reported on April 17).
The civic body has managed to identify a total of 69 index cases in the ward while the remaining 320 cases that tested positive were their contacts. Of these 389 cases reported, 320 patients are admitted to dedicated hospitals, 25 are in isolation centres, 17 people have died so far, and 27 have recovered from the disease.
The civic body has so far identified and traced contacts of all those who tested positive, of which 843 were high-risk contacts and the remaining 2,711, were identified as low-risk contacts and put under home quarantine.
Of the total 389 cases in G (South) ward, almost 73 per cent (285) were reported from slum areas, around 48 cases from semi-slum areas or 'chawls' and 56 were reported from single buildings.
Besides this, those areas or buildings that were sealed and declared containment zones after COVID-19 cases were reported there, have now been released by the civic body. In the K-West ward, three areas have been removed from the list of containment zones.
All three areas fall under the jurisdiction of the Oshiwara police station in Jogeshwari West. Containment zones are released after no new cases are found. The three areas include Khatija High-tech tower on Behram Baug Road, Abu Kalam building at Momin Nagar and Mateshwari Chawl.
Earlier too, the KW ward had released a few areas. Meanwhile D ward on Friday released Shimla House in Napean Sea Road from the Containment Zone. The building was sealed after one positive case was reported from the premises on March 31.
The state government has said that the containment operations will be scaled down if no secondary positive case of Covid-19 is reported from a quarantine zone for at least four weeks since the last confirmed test has been isolated.
