Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Mulling Giving Hydroxychloroquine To Slum-dwellers?

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is mulling giving the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, as preventive medicine, to slum dwellers in the metropolis, who have a very high risk of infection, India Today reported on Monday. Mumbai has been the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra.

The state has seen the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country with 1985 testing positive for coronavirus. Dharavi, the sprawling slum reported 47 cases, including five deaths. The BMC has undertaken a massive door-to-door screening and testing campaign in Dharavi to trace and isolate the infected.

Meanwhile, cases have also been reported from another slum area in the commercial capital of India, Govandi. The BMC in a massive containment strategy has identified more than 380 zones and has imposed stringent restrictions on movement within these areas. Apart from rigorous sanitation drives, health teams are conducting intensive screening and testing operations to identify and isolate those affected with COVID-19 in these areas.

The Maharashtra housing minister Jitendra Awhad placed himself under self-quarantine after he came in contact with a police officer who tested positive for coronavirus. The minister is said to have interacted with the patient in question recently and has had to quarantine himself as a precautionary measure.

A matter of concern in Mumbai has also been the spread of the infection to healthcare personnel who are exposed to the pandemic during the course of treatment. 25 members of the Bhatia hospital in Mumbai are reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. The hospital has been sealed and declared a containment zone.

The Bhatia hospital is the second worst-affected healthcare facility after Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai where several staff members tested positive. Some healthcare personnel at Jaslok Hospital and Breach Candy Hospital have also tested positive for coronavirus