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BMC reports significant drop in number of sealed buildings across Mumbai

Data shared by the civic body shows that the tally for sealed buildings has dropped by 98 per cent in comparison with April 2021, where the city was one of the worst affected in the second COVID-19 wave.

BMC reports significant drop in number of sealed buildings across Mumbai
SHARES

Mumbai was one of the worst affected cities during the second coronavirus (COVID-19) wave, however the number of cases in the city have reduced significantly over the last few months. As per reports, the city has very few containment zones and the number of sealed buildings in Mumbai has also declined by nearly 98 per cent in the last four months. Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray shared more information regarding the same and said that as of now, only 21 buildings are sealed in Mumbai.

Member of the COVID-19 Task Force, Dr. Shashank Joshi added that the number of COVID-19 patients in Mumbai are also decreasing with time and the count has dropped to nearly 300, with less than 10 cases being identified in the city.

As per the protocol, officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seal the building if it has five or more COVID positive patients, and if the count is less than five, then the floor gets sealed. 

Data released by the BMC shows that the number of sealed floors had reached 10,983 in the second week of April 2021, but has now dropped to 1,116. Officials said that that city did not report a containment zone for the first time since March 2020 when Mumbai saw a rise in the COVID cases amidst the second wave. During the peak in  April 2021, the city had nearly 2,800 containment zones.

Also Read: COVID-19 Cases on the Decline in Mumbai; Officials Remain Cautious About Reopening

The municipal corporation has been taking necessary steps to ensure people follow the rules and the cases do not increase in the city. Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani analyzed the current COVID trend and found that the new cases were primarily found in buildings and there were no groups of cases identified in the city. However, he asked the people to remain cautious stating that the government has recently announced the unlock guidelines due which movements will begin in the city, increasing the possibility of further spread. 

"We've just started the unlock process and if people do not follow the COVID-19 rules as suggested and if they do not get vaccinated, then the government will have to impose another lockdown," he added.

Also Read: Dadar, Mahim, Dharavi On Their Way To Being COVID-19 Free?

Talking about the COVID cases in slums and other pockets of the city, Dahisar's former corporator Abhishek Gosalkar said that the viral infection did spread excessively in slums during the second wave. For instance, Dahisar's Ganpat Patil Nagar city, which is considered to be one of the most populated slums with 60,000 residents had a very low patient in comparison to the cases found in the first COVID wave, whereby it was marked as a hotspot. Taking precautions during the second wave, the local body sealed the slum containing the spread which helped in reducing the cases in Dahisar.

Moreover, slum and densely populated areas in Goregaon like Bhagat Singh Nagar 1 and 2, Laxmi Nagar and 2, and Indira Nagar also saw lesser cases where the officials were able to control the spread. Authorities have said that the third COVID-19 wave has been predicted by the experts and necessary measures are being taken to ensure people are safe from the infection. Awareness about vaccination is being spread and officials are making sure that the people residing in the slums take at least one dose of the COVID vaccine as suggested by the state government.

Also Read: Thane's Global COVID Hospital staff stage protest

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