Maximum city
By Lakshya
It is too late! The coronavirus or COVID-19 horse has bolted and closed the barn doors. Despite New Delhi’s total lockdown entering its 3rd phase, the increase in the number of cases has been exponential in the last week. With few million testing and a faulty containment programme, the country’s economy and human capital is in a deplorable state. With the lockdown in its 44th day, the political pundits are sceptical about the viability of the public healthcare system in tackling the sheer incompetency to monitor, test and isolate infected people.
At the epicentre of this remains City of Dreams-Mumbai. Accounting for more than 10000 cases, Mumbai tops the table in the corona tally. A city, that resides the highest number of billionaires of India, is also home to Asia’s largest slum - Dharavi. Close to a million people which accounts for more than 60% of Mumbai’s population, living cheek by jowl is the major hurdle in containing the virus. Adding to this long list of miseries is the shutting down five major private hospitals of Mumbai. The lack of proper equipments for the health professional and nurses has led to around 150 people getting infected in last one week.
Preparing for the Virus
The advance preparedness of the medical professionals and the public entities stockpiling masks, gloves and sanitizers would have been an important step. Sufficient availability of beds and converting vacant halls, sports facilities and other such places into makeshift quarantine centres, with intensive care units, would have made us better prepared for the situation. The migrant workers were to be assured and catered to as they are the backbone of big business houses. The availability of basic staple to the citizens should have been ensured which would avoid panic buying. Appropriate equipments would be provided to the public officials and the medical workers on duty and spread awareness amongst the citizens ensuring cordial working of all the stakeholders.
Dharavi Focus
Dharavi being a close knit society where around a million people live in an area of 2 square kilometre, local NGOs and community workers could be incentivised to help spread the awareness about the “New Disease” amongst the people. Where 80 people use a single bathroom, it becomes imperative to extract senior citizens or people with high risk of getting infected and shift them to makeshift shelters. A critical care task force of the best physicians who can create a comprehensive medical plan, which actively involves and is executed by Mumbai’s large and very capable public hospitals along with private hospitals, has the best chances of swinging it in ‘life’s’ favour.
The government has been swift in taking actions with testing the people and establishing a 300 bed make shift quarantine facility for the people of Dharavi.. Though it will be a humongous task for the state government to get the city back up and running, but with some minute changes in the policies and tightening of the administrative screw, the leaders at the helm might just be able to set an example for the other states and the world at large.
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