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The number of tests conducted in an area, along with the area’s population and the total positive cases form the parameters to calculate the doubling rate. (Representational)

The Indian Express

Mumbai: 21-day doubling rate in Dharavi, lower than city’s 14-day average

The doubling rate of number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai is 14 days, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said on Saturday during an interaction with doctors of BMC-run hospitals.

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Dharavi, a hotspot with 1,583 Covid-19 cases and 60 deaths so far, had a doubling rate of 21 days, as of May 24, which is much lower than that of Mumbai.

The doubling rate of number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai is 14 days, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said on Saturday during an interaction with doctors of BMC-run hospitals. On April 27, as per data from the civic body, the doubling rate of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai was 10 days.

Dharavi as well as G-South ward — which covers one of the worst-affected slums and semi-slum areas of Worli- Koliwada, BDD chawls, Jijamata Nagar — have recorded a doubling rate of 21 days. Between April 17 and April 27, the doubling rate for G-South was 17.6 days. BMC has attributed this to aggressive screening and testing.

The number of tests conducted in an area, along with the area’s population and the total positive cases form the parameters to calculate the doubling rate.

On Monday, 42 new cases were recorded from Dharavi, where the recovery rate is also higher than the rest of the city. On Sunday, the recovery rate in Dharavi was 42 per cent, as opposed to 27 per cent for Mumbai. Data also showed that 35 per cent of the cases in Dharavi were contracted within the family. The death rate of Dharavi is, however, the same as Mumbai, at 4 per cent.

The civic body has been screening people for Covid-19 symptoms through nine dispensaries, multiple fever camps and 350 private clinics in Dharavi. It also isolates places with active cases and seal them. Till date, more than 6,000 tests have been conducted from Dharavi. BMC has screened over 4 lakh people, which is half of the total population of the area. Civic officials have also quarantined 7,059 high-risk and low-risk contacts in various institutional quarantine facilities till May 21.