A medical staff takes a swab sample of a passenger to do a mandatory reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test after alighting from an inter-state train at a railway platform in Mumbai | (Photo by AFP)
To curb the coronavirus spread, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has begun identifying citizens who had travelled during the Ganeshotsav and have now returned.
Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani, who is also in-charge of public health in the BMC, said that he has instructed all ward officers to carry out focused testing to ensure there is faster detection and isolation of those infected at the earliest. Earlier this week, the Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg Collectorate had informed that 272 people who have travelled to Konkan from Mumbai during Ganeshotsav contracted Covid-19.
"Those who travelled to other districts during the festival have started returning and we are targeting this specific population to prevent any further spread. Besides conducting door-to-door testing, we have set up 266 centres where they can approach to get tested," Kakani told FPJ on Wednesday.
"Usually, the travel history of a patient is found out only after we get the test results, which is why as a preemptive measure we have instructed the municipal wards to identify such people at the earliest," said Kakani.
Prithviraj Chauhan, assistant municipal commissioner and in-charge of K/West (KW) ward that covers the Juhu and Versova areas, said he has asked for a detailed survey on the health condition of residents.
"We have deployed our health teams in areas like Versova that has a significant Marathi population and travels to Konkan districts during Ganeshotsav every year," Chauhan told FPJ. "These officers will carry out health check-up of all returning patients to make sure that even asymptomatic ones get tested," he said.
Prashant Sapkale, assistant municipal commissioner and in-charge of K/East (KE) ward that covers the Andheri East and Jogeshwari areas, said that the testing has been intensified in slum areas. "There are certain slum clusters in Jogeshwari and Andheri that have huge Marathi population. We have identified these areas and are tracking the whereabouts of those who have recently travelled outside the city," Sapkale told FPJ on Wednesday.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
