COVID-19: 26 new cases take Dharavi tally to 86; death toll 9

The number of coronavirus cases in Dharavi jumped to 86 after as many as 26 people tested positive for the infection on Thursday in the slum area of Mumbai, a civic official said.

With one more person succumbing to the infection on Thursday, the COVID-19 death toll in the slum reached nine, the official said.

"Eleven persons had tested positive earlier on Thursday, while 15 cases were detected later in the day. This took the day's tally of COVID-19 patients from Dharavi to 26," an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

Eleven of these cases were reported from Muslim Nagar locality, four from Mukund Nagar, two each from Social Nagar and Rajiv Nagar, and one each from Sai Raj Nagar, Transit camp, Ramji Chawl, Laxmi Chawl, Janata society, Shiv-Shakti Nagar, and Sarvoday Nagar localities in Dharavi, he said.

"A 58-year-old man from Laxmi Chawl locality died due to COVID-19 on Thursday, which took the Dharavi death toll to nine," the official said.

Dharavi is one of the largest slum areas in Asia. Nearly 15 lakh people live in shanties located in this highly congested area.