The Turnaround Of Dharavi - From Potential Disaster To Possible COVID-19 Role Model For India
When the first COVID-19 case was reported from Dharavi in Mumbai, on April 1, it rang quite a few alarm bells and rightfully so.Because the detection of a highly contagious disease like COVID-19 in Dharavi which is Asia's largest slum spread over 613 hectares and home to over 15 lakh people, where social distancing was impractical meant that it was only a matter of time before the virus spread.?
And that is exactly what followed, in the next few weeks Dharavi turned into the largest COVID-19 hotspot in Mumbai and till now has recorded 2,043 cases and 77 deaths.And over the past few weeks, the infection rate in Dharavi has been slowing down at a time when the COVID-19 cases in India are exploding.?
Dharavi made a remarkable turnaround by going back to the basics test, trace, and isolate.The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), swung into action and started setting up fever clinics where residents were screened for COVID-19 symptoms. In April there were just two or three clinics in Dharavi, but now the area has over 100 clinics open.
?Since April BMC staff and volunteers went door to door and have screed over six lakh people in Dharavi.They also checked people¡¯s oxygen saturation levels and if t was below 95 percent, they were taken to quarantine centres where they were looked after.?
And this method of aggressive testing and screening of people through fever clinics paid off.Dharavi has successfully managed to flatten the curve and a total of 1,010 people who had tested positive in have been cured and discharged, while the remaining are undergoing treatment at designated COVID-19 hospitals and facilities.?
Also, no new deaths were reported in the last 48 hours in Dharavi.The success of Dharavi can easily be attributed to sticking to the basics, something that WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has beenemphasizing on every other media briefing he gives - test trace and, isolate suspect cases.? ? ? ?
Another factor that worked in the favour of Dharavi was the lockdown, due to which an estimated over 2 lakh residents had left the slums since March, which also helped in maintaining some kind of social distancing among the residents.?
