1. Seven More Deaths, 88 More Cases in Maha; Count Rises to 423
Maharashtra recorded 88 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Thursday and seven deaths, the highest in a day, as the state revved up its machinery to combat the pandemic, including sealing off high-risk areas and aggressively applying the 3-T formula (trace, test and treat) for suspected cases.
As of Thursday, Maharashtra’s coronavirus case tally stood at 423, the highest in the country. Of the new cases, 54 are in Mumbai, 11 in Pune, 9 in Ahmednagar, 9 in MMR (excluding Mumbai), two in Aurangabad, one each in Satara, Osmanabad and Buldhana.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Nursing Homes, Clinics in Mumbai Start Shutting Down
The fear of COVID-19 widespread, Mumbai’s frontline health facilities – clinics in slums and nursing homes in neighbourhood – are shutting down one by one.
In Jogeshwari, City Hospital shut down completely on Wednesday. On its grilled gate, a note “sorry for inconvenience” was pasted. The hospital provided affordable treatment for slumdwellers from Behrambaug, Jogeshwari East and Goregaon. “The hospital did not want to take risks, several people from slums are being diagnosed with COVID-19,” the security guard said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. 2,500 Residents of Mumbai’s Dharavi Area to Remain in Home Quarantine
Around 2,500 residents of Dr Baliga Nagar in Dharavi have been directed to remain under home quarantine after a 56-year-old man died of COVID-19 on Wednesday, while a 52-year-old man who worked as a sweeper in the area tested positive for the virus 24 hours later.
The colony with 308 flats and 91 shops has already been sealed by the authorities. Local ward office has said no resident will be permitted to step out of their homes and that food and other essential items would be provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. As COVID-19 Cases Rose, Commuters Started to Opt for Private Transport: IIT Study
More people shifted to private transport for commuting to work in the transition phase until the national lockdown, states a study by the Indian Institutes of Technology in Mumbai (IIT-B) and Hyderabad (IIT-H). The study looks into the impact of COVID-19 on daily commute to work in the third week of March till the lockdown.
In Tier-1 cities, it was found that about 12% of the respondents switched from public to private mode during the third week of March. This modal shift was around 9% in Tier-2 cities and about 7% in Tier-3.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Staffers Reach out to NMMC After Patient Tests Positive in Fortis Hiranandani Hospital
After an admitted patient tested positive for COVID-19, the staff of Hiranandani Fortis Hospital in Vashi wrote to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) urging that the hospital be sanitised and the staff quarantined, claiming that the isolation protocol had kicked in late in the hospital. Following this, at least 25 staffers were quarantined.
A patient from Sector 15 was admitted in the hospital on 27 March with complaints of gastric along with fever, cough and headache. “The ward incharge requested that the patient be isolated, but the chief nursing officer refused,” the letter by the staffers, dated 1 April, stated.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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