Govandi, a densely populated slum in Mumbai, adds 30 coronavirus cases in 2 days

• In the last 48 hours, M-East Ward of Mumbai — which constitutes of Govandi and Mankhurd — have reported at least 30 coronavirus cases reported Mumbai Mirror.
  
• So far 80 people have tested positive for COVID-19 from the M East Ward. Moreover, the number of cases is likely to rise on Monday.
  
• These areas are more densely populated than Dharavi.
  

There’s a sudden spike in fresh coronavirus cases from Govandi. In the last 48 hours, M-East Ward of Mumbai — which constitutes of Govandi and Mankhurd — have reported at least 30 coronavirus cases reported Mumbai Mirror. So far 80 people have tested positive for COVID-19 from the M East Ward. Moreover, the number of cases is likely to rise on Monday.

“The number of cases shot up in just two days of testing. The slums here are more densely populated then Dharavi and the population suffers from underlying health conditions, especially respiratory illness” Aby Azim Azmi, a Samajwadi Party MLA told Mumbai Mirror.

Govandi is yet another densely populated slums where over 500,000 people live in a 4 sq km area.

"Identifying affected people in slums is a challenge. Fever camps have been effective. Sudden rise in cases is seen as the test result have come in the last two to three days. These patients were kept in quarantine after their swab was collected," Assistant Municipal Commissioner of M-east ward, Sudhansu Dwivedi told India Today.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has carried out a massive sanitisation drive to clean all the toilets in the ward. Authorities have also quarantined 261 high-risk cases from slums of Shivaji Nagar and Baiganwadi. Moreover, it has also established a camp at Lotus Colony to screen people.

Apart from this local bodies have also sealed the area with bamboo sticks and shut all vegetable market for three days to contain the spread.

Dharavi — Asia’s largest slum — also added four new coronavirus cases on April 13. According to a BMC official, there are 47 coronavirus cases in 16 pockets of Dharavi.

See also: Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra