WHO praises Dharavi’s Covid fight

Experts say Dharavi managed to flatten the curve by the end of June. Throughout June, Dharavi recorded an average of 18 new cases daily, with the highest single-day spike in recorded cases on June 1 (34 new cases). Since July, the number of new cases has declined.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday acknowledged the city’s efforts to contain the outbreak of Covid-19 in Dharavi, India’s largest slum. Dharavi was a hot spot in June, but has seen a sharp drop in cases in July. WHO chief Tedros Adha-nom Ghebreyesus said Italy, Spain, South Korea and Dharavi have showed the virus could be reined in through aggressive action.

On Tuesday, Dharavi recorded only one case, its lowest single-day figure in over two months. (HT Photo)

“In the last six weeks cases have more than doubled,” Tedros told a virtual press conference in Geneva. However, “there are many examples from around the world that have shown that even if the outbreak is very intense, it can still be brought back under control,” said Tedros.

“And some of these examples are Italy, Spain and South Korea, and even in Dharavi – a densely packed area in the megacity of Mumbai – a strong focus on community engagement and the basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating all those that are sick is key to breaking the chains of transmission and suppressing the virus.”

State environment minister Aaditya Thackeray tweeted, “This is huge for our very own Dharavi that has chased the virus. State Govt and @mybmc teams, along with NGOs, Elected Representatives and most importantly, Dharavikars! Let’s keep this going! Thank you @WHO for recognising their efforts, and will keep going on.”

Experts say Dharavi managed to flatten the curve by the end of June. Throughout June, Dharavi recorded an average of 18 new cases daily, with the highest single-day spike in recorded cases on June 1 (34 new cases). Since July, the number of new cases has declined.

On Tuesday, Dharavi recorded only one case, its lowest single-day figure in over two months. Subsequently, on Wednesday, it recorded three new cases and nine on Thursday. Twelve new cases were recorded on Friday. The total number of cases in Dharavi now stands at 2359, with 166 active cases.

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of G (North) ward, which has jurisdiction over Dharavi, said, “Testing, massive screening, identifying patients and their high-risk contacts, and isolating them from the community has worked very well for Dharavi. The focus is to maintain this situation in Dharavi, so we will continue these efforts.”

With inputs from AFP