Dharavi, as we know it, bears the title of Asia’s biggest slum. In the storm of COVID-19, this place acquired the new name of being the hotspot of coronavirus cases in Mumbai.
This slum is home to more than 8 lakh people, which makes social distancing impossible. Yet, it is surprising to see that an area as densely populated as Dharavi has not shown even a single death in six days.
Dharavi has shown a fast recovery rate. The area had 1,899 patients, out of which 939 have already recovered.
India has now reached the mark of around 10,000 new coronavirus cases coming up each day across the country.
Here are lessons by Dharavi that can help us in tackling coronavirus effectively
Aggressive Screening
Dharavi recorded an average of 47 cases in May, and the graph came down to 27 cases in June.
This decline in cases was possible due to more and more screening of people. Ensuring the isolation of COVID positive people alongside aggressive screening led to the flattening of the curve in Dharavi.
Screening more and more people helped detect new cases immediately before it can spread to more people.
“Nearly 4 lakh people have been screened by BMC health workers, private clinic doctors, mobile van, Municipal dispensary”– said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner of G north ward of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
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Fever Clinics
One of the key reasons behind this achievement of Dharavi was setting up fever clinics. Fever clinics help to detect symptoms of coronavirus.
In fever clinics, people get screened for fever, oxygen level, and other known symptoms. On the detection of any abnormal condition, people got isolated immediately.
Kiran Digavkar said, “With the help of fever clinics, we could identify the people showing symptoms similar to that of coronavirus infection. We isolated them immediately, which helped in either containing further transmission of the virus or spreading any kind of infection from those who are feeling unwell.”
Social Distancing
By now, we know the importance of social distancing in containing this virus. Many thought social distancing in a densely populated area like Dharavi was nearly impossible. But luckily, a big chunk of people who worked in industries returned to their homes, making social distancing possible.
According to PTI, an official said, “Dharavi offers jobs to hundreds of thousands of people. With continued extensions to the lockdown, a sizeable number of people have left the slum for their homes. This helped us in ensuring physical distancing to some extent.”
Awareness
Along with testing and isolation, doctors are continuously spreading awareness regarding the need for sanitization and hand washing. Spreading awareness to BMC about the sanitization of public washrooms has led to a decrease in spread.
We are now reaching the grim milestone of 10,000 new cases every day. Amid this steep increase in the curve, these steps taken by Dharavi can help to curb coronavirus.
Social distancing tops the list of ways we can stay safe, but it alone is not effective in controlling this pandemic. India needs to take more steps like aggressive screening and more test clinics to detect this infection in the early stage.
Image credits: Google Images
Source: Hindustan Times, Business Line, Livemint
Find the blogger: @mitali_pk
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