The Worli Koliwada containment zone, which is the worst affected area by the pandemic in Mumbai recorded 390 cases up until now. This is almost 20 percent of the total number of 2,073 corona positive cases in Mumbai. While the people wait for the eerie silence that has descended upon them during the quarantine to disperse, and look forward to better days, there is now a ray of hope.
129 people who were placed under quarantine have returned after their 14-day mandatory isolation at the Poddar Hospital. Local residents and police officials on duty welcomed those returning home with a loud applause.
Home coming for 129 residents of Worli Koliwada, as we bid farewell to them after their quarantine period. We thanked them for cooperating with us & for now being home quarantine for the safety of others. Residents of locality warmly welcomed them.@mybmc pic.twitter.com/Ergb3BqryX
— WARD GS BMC (@mybmcWardGS) April 16, 2020
Mumbai Live reported that their swab tests were conducted on Monday and Tuesday and the reports had turned up negative.
Aditya Thackeray, Tourism Minister for Maharashtra and also the MLA from the Worli Constituency said that he was closely monitoring the situation in the area. He tweeted saying, “Today over the phone, I got in touch with some Worli residents who had contracted coronavirus. They have recovered and gone back to their homes. They are now fit. The way they have won the war against Covid-19, I am confident that our state and country will win this battle too.”
This is a moving moment, even for me. The first people to go to quarantine, have the attention of the world before the word became normal in Mumbai, and the seal off zone. Now they’re back to their own homes… a place made safer by all of us together because of their cooperation https://t.co/Vwl4SyFgya
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) April 16, 2020
Sabrang India spoke to a resident to understand how people are faring in the containment zone. On the condition of anonymity he said, “We are going to shops within the area to buy supplies, but we aren’t getting everything we need. Supplies have become limited. There are around 1 lakh people here. Two ends of the area have been sealed. Keeping in mind social distancing, the kirana stores are handing out supplies to people. Vegetable vendors are allowed to sell vegetables by coming into the area, but none of us are allowed to leave the zone. Nobody has come to donate supplies too. In case that happens, they leave the supplies outside the zone, which is then distributed to people inside. Not everyone in the zone has been tested for the coronavirus. Only once our temperature was checked using the temperature gun.”
He also explained that social distancing was a luxury for many people who live in low-income neighbourhoods like Worli Koliwada in an already congested and prohibitively expensive city like Mumbai. He also explains why people are often forced to venture out. “Social distancing at home isn’t taking place in the inner areas of the zone because there is no space for it. The scare of the infection is there, but even the public doesn’t listen. People who are stamped on their hands to be under home quarantine aren’t given enough supplies, so they venture out. When the police comes for patrolling, everyone runs home, but once the police leaves, the residents come back out.”
Speaking about the people who returned, he said, “The 129 people who returned home were mostly relatives and caregivers of patients. Some patients have returned home too. Though I wish, I cannot talk to them about the facilities at the hospital or the quarantine centers.”
“There are no sanitization stations. Nobody has been given masks, gloves or sanitizers by the government. Some wear homemade masks or some just cover their faces with a handkerchief. The doctors came eight days ago near my house and checked everyone’s temperature. Since then, no one has visited. I think the doctors should visit every four days looking at the situation currently. Some people who have been asked to self-isolate aren’t being tested. In other areas, everyday two patients are being taken for a test it is said. I’m unable to venture out hence I don’t know much of what is happening in the area. We are surviving okay. We wish to go out, but looking at the rise in cases, we think we are safe at home,” he added.
The whole of India seems to be echoing Worli Koliwada’s sentiment right now. There are some pros and many cons to the lockdown situation, as it could have been better managed for everyone, but as long as the government gets on track to ramp up testing and flatten the curve, every Indian is willing to cooperate in the fight against the pandemic.
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