Mumbai escapes 'community transmission', says BMC

The declaration came against the backdrop of the country's commercial capital recording the highest number of Covid-19 deaths at 114 and 1896 positive cases in the country till Wednesday.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray added to the glad tidings by proclaiming that success is also being achieved in the 'war against virus' ranging from a six-month-old infant to an 83-year-old grandma, who have emerged as fully cured of Covid-19 and returned home.

The trend started with the state's first married couple which tested Covid-19 positive on March 9 and was successfully cured to return home on March 23.

"Since then, the number of Corona patients getting cured has consistently increased to 295 till April 15, including the maximum 166 from Mumbai, 43 in Pune district, 26 in Thane district and 11 in Nagpur, and other parts of the state," said Thackeray, in a social media interaction.

The BMC's conclusion came after analyzing the data of patients at 97 'fever clinics' - started by the civic body recently in the city, many of which are operated in 'containment zones' and congested slums.

Of the 3,585 persons examined in these 'fever clinics', 912 persons were sent for Covid-19 tests in which five were detected positive.

These five persons had either a history of foreign travel or contact with those who had recently travelled abroad, and accordingly, the BMC exercised all precautions and implemented the relevant protocols.

"The test data reveals an incident of only 0.54 percent infections, indicating that there is no 'community transmission' of Covid-19 in Mumbai," said the BMC official.

Besides the 'fever clinics', the BMC has also launched a helpline number where doctors offer free advice to persons with complaints of fever, cough, cold or breathing problems.

Around 6,000 persons took advice, of which 1,200 were advised 'home quarantine', over 300 referred for Covid-19 tests for which samples were collected from their homes to prevent them from stepping out during lockdown, said the BMC.

In the past over a month, Maharashtra has recorded 2,916 Covid-19 cases and 187 fatalities, though 7 districts in the state are totally free of the corona scourge.