Maharashtra: 60 year-old Dharavi man dies due to coronavirus COVID-19, total cases in area jump to 47

Mumbai's Dharavi area has emerged as the new hotpsot of coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak in Maharashtra and four new coronavirus cases, including one death, were reported from the area on Monday (April 13).The total number of coronavirus cases in Dharavi - one of the biggest slums in Asia - has now jumped to 47 and the death toll in the area has climbed to five.

The samples of 60-year-old man from Nehru chawl, who passed away at Sion Hospital, came out positive for coronavirus. The health officials have started efforts to trace the contacts of the deceased man.

On Saturday (April 11), health care workers conducted a door-to-door screening of all the Dharavi residents. It is to be noted that Dharavi is the largest slum in the country and it has a population of around 10 lakhs. A team comprising private doctors of Dharavi and BMC medical staff checked the temperature and questioned the people about their travel history.

On April 7, Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha MP Rahul Shewale had urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to completely lock down Dharavi in order to prevent it from becoming a coronavirus COVID-19 hotspot.

According to the Shiv Sena MP, the Mumbai police is making a good effort to curb the spread of coronavirus in Dharavi but people of the area are not paying heeds to the warnings of the administration. He also demanded additional police force of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) so that they can extend their help to the police.

"If the virus is not contained in Dharavi, then Mumbai will be in serious trouble. The spread of coronavirus can be very fast in Dharavi due to the congestion," he had said.