Mumbai: Because the sudden increase in infection among health care workers, E Ward (Byculla) has emerged as a Covid hotspot with the highest weekly growth rate and the lowest level of doubling in the city, according to BMC data.
To combat cases, BMC has changed its testing strategy to voluntarily test all residents of building closed in a five-day period.
In the environment, weekly growth in Covid cases has risen to 0.12%, double the overall level in the city.
“More than 30 health workers attached to a number of hospitals in E Ward have become Covid despite being vaccinated,” said the Supplementary City Commissioner of Suresh Kakani.
All asymptomatic and diagnosed only during routine testing in their respective hospitals, said Environmental Officer Manish Walanju.
Although some of them are hospitalized because of comorbidity or age, it is only a precautionary measure and they have mild to moderate infections.
In real numbers, 72 cases have been diagnosed in the E environment between 3 and 11 September.
The city has registered a Covid case increase in four weeks since travel restrictions and entertainment loosen.
While the daily calculation on August 17, 196, he rose to 532 on September 8 on Saturday, it fell to 361 mainly because of the festival season.
Another environment that has registered an increase in infection levels including North F (Matunga), H West (Bandra), M Ward (Chembur) and S (Bhandup).
The doubling level in five wards ranges from 745 days to 907 days with an average city of 1,185.
At the other end, P North Ward, which consists of Maldo, has a lowest growth rate of 0.03% and doubling the level of 2,017 days.
BMC officials said the current increase was marginal and cases were too light to need hospitalization.
A doctor from H Barat Ward said that most of the beds, both of them ICUs or were supported by oxygen, empty in private hospitals.
At present, BMC has aggressively implementing a ‘testing, search, and care’ policies.
“We have asked for high-risk contacts to be tested on the first day of the diagnosis (from the patient’s index) and testing all those who live in a closed building within five days,” Kakani said, added that the period after the GanPati festival would be important for the city.