JOIN USMumbai-Pune belt: A hotspot of COVID-19 crisis
The Mumbai-Pune belt of Maharashtra which accounts for about 10% of the reported cases in the country has become a hotspot of the COVID-19 crisis in India.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune district is home to over four crore population. The region accounts for four casualties from COVID-19, the highest in the country so far.
Since the outbreak, facilities at the state-run hospitals like St George, Cama & Albless, Nair and KEM have been beefed up with isolation wards and other facilities.
Currently, Kasturba Hospital has the most number of positive patients in the state. The state government has also acquired the defunct Seven Hospital at Andheri, which is now the biggest quarantine facility.
Ministers also said that isolation wards and beds could be set up in PWD guest houses and government medical colleges.
"The high density of population here poses various challenges. The best option is to stay in and stay safe," says State Health Minister Rajesh Tope.
"As of now, we are in Stage-2, we would not like to see ourselves in Stage-3," says Dr TP Lahane, Director, Medical Education.
Over 40% of Mumbai's population lives in slums and the city has over 2.5 lakh people who are homeless.
Most people are daily wage labourers living in extremely precarious conditions, living in areas with a high population density. They face a disproportionate burden of malnutrition, lack of access to shelter, healthcare and other basic services.
The current approach to controlling the pandemic – shutting down of economic and social activity – has already begun to hit them hard.
Once community transmission is established, this section of the population would be extremely vulnerable to the infection, which could have disastrous consequences, says Jan Swastha Abhiyan's Kamayani Bali Mahabal.