Mumbai: The COVID-19 count in Asia’s largest slum, Dharavi rose to 2,415 on Wednesday with the addition of 23 new cases -- it is highest one-day jump in nearly a month, the city civic body said.
A single-day spike of cases above the 20-mark has been registered in Dharavi after nearly four weeks, according to a senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official.
With 23 more people testing positive, the tally of COVID-19 cases in the slum-dominated area rose to 2,415, he said.
Since June 18, the daily COVID-19 cases from Dharavi have dipped below the 20-mark. On several days, single digit infections were found in Dharavi and on July 7, just one case was registered in the area. The civic body, however, has stopped disclosing the number of coronavirus deaths, if any, in the slum colony since the last month.
According to the official, Dharavi has only 99 active cases, while 2,067patients have recovered and discharged from COVID-19 facilities. The first COVID-19 patient in Dharavi was found on April 1, nearly three weeks after Mumbai recorded its maiden positive case on March 11.
Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia, is spread across 2.5 square km and has a population of around 6.5 lakh with people living in tiny houses. Last week, the World Health Organisation had praised the efforts taken by authorities to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Dharavi.
In Dadar and Mahim areas, which are part of G-north civic ward that also houses Dharavi, 59 and 17 new cases, respectively, were registered, the official said. According to the official, Dadar has seen a spike in cases after the civic body started setting up fever camps in each building in the area.
(With PTI inputs)
