Coronavirus: Mumbai’s Dharavi slum reports no new cases for the first time since April

The Dharavi slum in Mumbai registered no new coronavirus cases on Friday for the first time since the detection of the first case in the area in April, PTI reported.

Asia’s largest slum has so far recorded 3,788 infections. The area’s active cases have just been reduced to 12 as 3,464 people have recovered.

Over 6 lakh people live in the Dharavi slum. Health experts were worried that the coronavirus would spread uncontrollably in the area because of little possibility of physical distancing and poor hygienic conditions.

The officials have been able to control the spread of the coronavirus in Dharavi by carrying out house-to-house screening and extensive testing, according to India Today.

In July, the World Health Organization had also praised the successful containment efforts in Dharavi. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the area showed that “a strong focus on community engagement and the basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating” were important for breaking the chain of transmission of the virus.

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Maharashtra on Friday reported 3,431 new coronavirus cases, which took its tally to 19,13,382. More than 49,000 people have died of the infection in the state.

Earlier this week, the Maharashtra government announced the imposition of a night curfew till January 5 to restrict Christmas and New Year celebrations. The government also decided to quarantine passengers arriving from Europe and West Asia for two weeks. The decision were taken after a new strain of coronavirus – spreading faster than other variants – was detected in the United Kingdom. India has suspended flight services from the UK till December 31.

India recorded 23,067 new coronavirus cases on Friday morning, taking its total to 1,01,46,845. A total of 1,47,092 people have died of the coronavirus in the country, while more than 97 lakh have recovered.