From Asia’s Largest Slum to a Global ‘role model’: How Dharavi tamed COVID-19

With the WHO praising the efforts taken to contain the spread of the COVID-19 in Mumbai’s Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums, the local civic body said proactive screening with the assistance of private doctors and community support helped it in the fight against the disease.

The area, known as the largest slum of Asia, was a big worry when the pandemic began as over 6 lakh people live there on a patch of land measuring just 2.5 sq km.

82 percent of patients in Dharavi have recovered, bringing down the number of active cases to 166 said Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday after the civic body’s efforts won praise from the WHO. He also stated Dharavi area in Mumbai has become a global role model in the containment of coronavirus.

Instead of waiting for patients to come to hospitals, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) screened people in Dharavi pro-actively which helped, a senior official said.

At least six to seven lakh people have been screened in Dharavi, while 14,000 persons were tested and 13,000 were placed in institutional quarantine with medical facilities and a community kitchen for free,” he noted.

Dharavi, which recorded its first COVID-19 case on April 1, has so far reported 2,359 coronavirus infections.

According to official data, the doubling rate of cases was 18 days in Dharavi in April but it gradually improved to 43 days in May. It stood at 108 and 430 days in June and July, respectively.