Source: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Ashare%3A6687944843072745472
#COVID19 How #Asia’s #Biggest #Slum is #Beating #Coronavirus: Inside one square mile live nearly 1 million people, many of whom survive on daily wages and share public bathrooms. Families sleep in eight-by-eight-foot rooms. People squeeze past one another in alleys. #Social #distancing is impossible. But nearly three months later, authorities in #Mumbai appear to have pulled off a miracle — or at least found an unexpected reprieve. After recording 491 COVID-19 cases in April and 1,216 in May, #Dharavi saw only 274 cases and six deaths in the first two weeks of June. Epidemiologists say one of #Asia’s largest #slums — best known as the setting for the #Oscar-winning #film #SlumdogMillionaire — has contained the #virus even as it surges elsewhere in Mumbai and across other parts of India.
How this happened — a story of dogged legwork, proactive thinking and even bravery by officials, doctors and volunteers — could offer lessons in managing the coronavirus for other poor, densely packed communities around the world.
“Dharavi had put in place excellent #contact #tracing, #isolation and #quarantining measures… It is possible that the compact geography enabled a greater level of coordination than in other places. But it is still too early to declare victory.”