A 56-year-old man from Dharavi area of Mumbai, one of the largest slums in Asia, who had contracted the COVID-19 virus, died on Wednesday evening. The civic authority sealed the building where he lived.

The man went to Sion Hospital on March 26 and was admitted on March 29. He had tested positive only on Wednesday, a week after he developed symptoms.

The 56-year old had no history of foreign travel.

The case in Dharavi has raised concerns as more than a million people live in the congested and compact locality.

After he died at the government-run hospital, nearly 300 tenements in the building and 30 shops were shut by police. Residents of the building were also quarantined at home. His immediate contacts are also being tested.

When the police tried to disperse a crowd that had gathered in the area after the man’s death, they were attacked and pelted with stones. A case was also registered against some unidentified people.

Mumbai has registered over 180 positive COVID-19 cases and about a dozen deaths so far.

State Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday claimed that the number of cases would increase as around 5,000 persons in Mumbai fall in the ‘high-risk’ category.

Of the Six coronavirus patients who died on the day, five were women.

‘One of them died at the civic-run Nair Hospital while two succumbed at private hospitals in the city,’ a health official said.

A 75-year-old man and a 51-year-old man succumbed at Mumbai hospitals.

A 50-year-old man died in adjoining Palghar dstrict, which was the first death reported from Palghar.

‘None of these six persons had foreign travel history. So we are tracing the people who came in contact with the deceased in the last few weeks,’ the official said.

As many as 705 persons have been hospitalised across the state. Of the 7,126 samples sent for testing, 6,456 tested negative while 335 were positive. Forty-one coronavirus patients have also been discharged after recovery.

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