Constable is third Mumbai cop to die of coronavirus; all were in their 50s

A 57-year-old head constable on Monday became the third Mumbai Police personnel to die of the coronavirus since Saturday, an official said. 

The head constable was undergoing treatment at KEM Hospital in Parel after several state-run facilities refused to admit him, another official claimed. He was attached with the Kurla traffic division.

"He had first gone to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar on Friday after he felt feverish. Doctors there asked him to go to Kasturba Hospital, the main centre for communicable diseases. He was denied admission there and he then went to Nair Hospital which asked him to go to KEM Hospital," he claimed.

When the head constable was once again asked to go back to Kasturba Hospital, senior inspector Vinod Randive of Kurla traffic division was alerted who got staff at KEM to admit the 57-year-old, the official said. "He tested positive on Friday. His is the third death in Mumbai police. A 57-year-old constable died on Saturday and another 53-year-old on Sunday," he added.

Thirteen new coronavirus cases were found in Mumbai's Dharavi, taking the tally in the slum- dominated area to 288 on Monday, said a BMC official. This was a drop from 34 new cases - thee highest single day count so far - found in Dharavi on Sunday. The BMC official said the new coronavirus cases were found in Mukund Nagar, Madina Nagar, Muslim Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Prem Nagar, Indira Nagar and Shastri Nagar, among other localities, of the sprawling and densely-packed slum colony.

The first coronavirus positive patient was found in Dharavi on April 1.