Coronavirus in Mumbai: Dharavi man dies hours after testing positive for COVID-19, BMC seals building
A 56-year-old man of Dharavi slum of Mumbai, who was tested positive for deadly novel coronavirus, died on Wednesday evening during treatment at Sion Hospital, prompting civic authorities to seal the building where he lived. Residents of the building have been quarantined at home.
Earlier in the day, the test reports of the patient had confirmed that he was suffering from Covid-19.
Some 300 tenements in the building and around 30 shops were cordoned off by police.
"Other seven members of his family are home quarantined, they will be tested on Thursday," the BMC said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
On March 23, the patient had complained of fever and had visited a local doctor for check-up. Later on March 26, he was referred to Sion Hospital. Three days later, he was admitted to the hospital. On April 1, he was detected to be Covid-19 positive.
According to doctors, he had symptoms like fever, cough, respiratory issues and also had the co-morbid condition of renal failure.
Densely-populated Dharavi is famous as one of the largest slums in Asia.
The man, who lived in a building constructed under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme, had no history of foreign travel, said a health official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). He used to run a garment store at AKG Nagar in Dharavi.
According to a news agency PTI report, the police faced stone-pelting as they tried to disperse a crowd that had gathered in the area after learning about the man's death.
A group of persons started arguing with policemen and some of them started throwing stones, an official said, as quoted by PTI.
Mumbai has recorded over 180 coronavirus cases and about a dozen deaths of COVID-19 patients so far.
Six coronavirus patients — three men and as many women — died during the day, five of them in Mumbai. The women patients were 84, 73 and 63 years old, respectively.
"One of them died at the civic-run Nair Hospital while two succumbed at private hospitals in the city," said a health official. Maharashtra has recorded 335 coronavirus cases so far.
