Mumbai: BEST says they reported sharp fall in COVID-19 cases

BEST buses have a strict no mask, no entry rule. Pic/Ashish Raje

The BEST Undertaking on Friday said that they reported a sharp fall in COVID-19 positive cases amongst their employees in the last 45 days. Officials said that this has been possible due to Operation Zero Death, which the undertaking implemented, and includes early diagnosis and treatment. As per the latest statistics, BEST employees reported 2,887 positive cases, of which 2,763 had been cured, with only 25 active cases.

"In the past few days, 57 Rapid Antigen Test camps were organised, in coordination with MCGM at different depots and workplaces of the undertaking. And, 5,198 asymptomatic employees were tested, but only 32 (0.6 per cent) were found positive. Of these, 25 employees already been treated, seven were under treatment and the remaining in stable condition," Dr Anil Kumar Singal, BEST's chief medical officer, told mid-day.

He added that as per WHO standards, positivity of 5 per cent and below in an organisation is akin to good control. "To achieve this target till date, on an average 500 employees are being examined daily, along with more than 4,000 awareness lectures conducted. Over 1,30,000 strips of Vitamins C, D and Zinc immune-boosting supplements have been distributed among employees and 2,000 high risk employees and 3,000 low risk contact employees have been given rest," he said. In May, BEST employees had struck work after eight of their colleagues succumbed to COVID-19. They were demanding better care from the management.

In early December, the International Labour Organisation (IO) had picked up the BEST Undertaking in Mumbai as the only transport organisation in India so far, for best health and wellness approach for its 40,000 employees, while handling the pandemic.

A Tele Monitoring Severity Score System has been developed internally under which BEST's medical doctors monitor the health of COVID-19 patients through five-minute calls periodically. This has made a positive impact on recovery amongst the COVID-19 patients. As a result of these measures, between April and September 2020, out of 2,340 COVID-19 positive employees, 2,125 employees were treated successfully. Singal said preparedness and follow-ups by the COVID-19 response team helped the BEST in responding well to the pandemic.

Dadar G North records zero new cases, Dharavi, 1
A day after India's largest slum, Dharavi, reported zero cases, it has now recorded one positive case again. With this, Dharavi now has 13 active cases and has reported a total of 3,789. The officials, however, said that nothing has changed for the civic body even if the number was zero, as community leaders and volunteers are still on field and continuing with tracking the symptomatic cases. Meanwhile, it is the Dadar area of G North ward, which recorded zero cases. It is the first time since April 30, that there are no cases recorded here.

2,887
Total number of BEST employees who have tested COVID-19 positive so far