Dharavi slum: Tally of COVID-19 patients rises to 13; two dead

(Eds: With updates)

Mumbai, Apr 8 () With six persons testing positivefor coronavirus on Wednesday, the count of infected persons inDharavi, the densely-populated slum area of Mumbai, rose to13, civic officials said.

A 64-year-old COVID-19 male patient from Dharavi diedduring treatment on Wednesday, taking the number of suchvictims from the slum to two, they said.

"The deceased was a resident of Social Nagar inDharavi. He died at KEM hospital, where he was admitted onApril 7 following complaints of fever, cough andbreathlessness," a civic official said.

He was suffering from diabetes, hypertension andchronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.

Three persons who tested positive earlier in the daywere a 25-year-old man from Mukund Nagar locality, a 35-year-old man from Dhanwada chawl, and a 60-year-old woman, whoresides in Muslim Nagar, he said.

The patient from Mukund Nagar was a high risk contactof a 49-year-old man, who earlier tested positive forcoronavirus, and was kept at a quarantine facility, he said.

"The 60-year-old woman from Muslim Nagar works as acleaner at the KEM Hospital. She tested positive forcoronavirus on Wednesday afternoon, which took the number ofCOVID-19 patients from Dharavi to 10. These cases include a56-year-old person who died at Sion Hospital," the officialsaid.

Late on Wednesday evening, another three patients-including a couple- a 59-year-old man and his 49-year-oldwife- from Janata Society in Dharavi tested coronaviruspositive, he said.

The contact tracking of the couple is underway, theBMC official said.

"With this, the number of COVID-19 patients increasedto 13, including two dead," the official said.

Dharavi is one of the biggest slums in Asia wherenearly 15 lakh people live in small shanties, making it one ofthe most congested areas of the metropolis. KK GKNP NP