WHO Praised the Successful Efforts to Contain the Spread of Covid-19 in Mumbai’s Dharavi

Recently, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation acknowledged the efforts citing Mumbai’s Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia,  as an example and told that even very intense outbreak of Coronavirus can be controlled.

In Mumbai’s Dharavi, about 10 lakh people live (Census 2011) in an area of just over 2.5 square kilometers. Dharavi is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and hence when on April 1, the first COVID-19 case was reported it set off alarm bells. By mid-April, it became a coronavirus hotspot; on April 23, Mumbai’s biggest hotspot Dharavi had around 190 cases and 12 deaths. But lately, Dharavi has shown significant improvement and has emerged as a success story.

Dharavi has reported a decline in the spread of COVID-19 infections from an average of 43 cases per day in the month of May to 19 cases daily in the second week of June.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) exodus of migrant labours from Dharavi and aggressive testing, screening, testing and isolation helped in the fight against Coronavirus. It is believed that a sense of awareness among the people living in Dharavi is a crucial weapon in the fight against COVID-19.

From being a coronavirus hotspot to a successful containment model, Mumbai’s Dharavi has managed to flatten the curve. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has praised the efforts taken by the authorities to control the spread of Covid-19 in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

In an interview with Outlook’s Jyotika Sood, IAS officer Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee, Medical Education Secretary, Maharashtra, details how the authorities fought against all odds to contain the spread of deadly coronavirus in Dharavi. Edited excerpts:

Mantra for Dharavi’s success

Dharavi containment success is an instance of clinical management. In April, when the case started increasing in Dharavi, the authorities started aggressive testing, isolating, and quarantining potential cases. People were put under different COVID Care centres. For example, people under quarantine were in COVID Care Centres marked as CCC 1, those who were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms were kept in CCC2, and serious patients were kept under Clinical Management.

The biggest concern and the main reason behind a rise in cases in Dharavi was community toilets. So the civic authorities started sanitizing community toilets almost every hour. That’s what made a difference. 

Project Platina

Maharashtra government recently launched Project Platina. It is the world’s largest convalescent plasma therapy trial-cum-project to treat COVID patients with severe symptoms. A sample size of 500 patients across the state and 21 medical colleges will be conducting these trials. The entire plasma therapy treatment will be free of cost. The trial will give robust data regarding the role of convalescent plasma treatment. We also plan to study Monoclonal antibodies against Covid-19 during the project.

How is Platina different from ICMR’s PLACID trials?

Under Project Platina, severe Covid-19 patients will be given plasma therapy. Under the PLACID trial, only mild and moderate cases will be given plasma therapy. Our sample sizes are also different, it’s 500 for Platina and 452 for PLACID. Maharashtra’s experience in the management of severe cases has been very effective. The Maharashtra government has also decided to set up a department of transfusion medicine and later provide a MD course in transfusion medicine to prepare for the future where many such Covid-19 infections could be at play.

Over to you

The response has been positive. Plasma donation, a volunteer-based movement where these donors are being called Plasma Yodhas is planned. The government has enough plasma to start the project in 21 centers.