The people who were in close contact with a COVID-19 patient would be evacuated so that further spread of the infection is stopped, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said.
A worker wears a face mask as he works at a grain market during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Faridabad on April 20, 2020. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)
The Maharashtra government has decided to aggressively evacuate suspected coronavirus patients from Dharavi and other hotspots and put them in institutional quarantine, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday. The densely populated Dharavi slum area here has reported close to 190 cases of coronavirus infection so far. “Houses in Dharavi are very small and 10-12 people live in a house. Even if we advise home quarantine, the shortage of space defeats the purpose,” he said.
The state has reported the highest number of cases in the country at 5,652 coronavirus positive patients.
The people who were in close contact with a COVID-19 patient would be evacuated so that further spread of the infection is stopped, Tope said.
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“We have discussed the issue with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Mumbai municipal commissioner Pravin Pardeshi. We have agreed that home quarantine would not be helpful in Dharavi area where space shortage is a major challenge,” he said.
Grounds of schools can be used for institutional quarantine shelters and authorities have already started working on arranging artificial oxygen supply in such places, Tope said.
“We can easily quarantine as many as 73,000 people. The total capacity of the state for isolation is around 1.55 lakh beds,” the health minister said.
The “death percentage” among COVID-19 patients has now come down from seven to five which was a good sign, he added. “Daily 13 per cent people are getting better in Maharashtra alone. The state has so far carried out more than 90,000 tests to detect coronavirus infection. Today we performed as many as 7,112 tests. “Still, we have decided to increase testing further for early detection,” he said.
“Photo booths” for sample collection are operational in Kasturba Hospital and similar booths will be set up in other places, he said. With these booths, the person collecting swab samples does not need to wear PPE kit, he said.
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