The World Health Organization (WHO), which has found itself in a tough spot after failing to speak up about the Chinese pandemic coronavirus and often accused of ‘siding with’ the Chinese government has now hailed Maharashtra for ‘containing’ coronavirus despite the fact that the state has seen the highest number of cases in the country.
Addressing a virtual press conference on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who himself is under fire from critics, claimed there were 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.
.@WHO appreciated the efforts taken by Govt Of Maharashtra for focusing on community engagement & the basics of testing, tracing & treating in #Dharavi to control spread of #CoronaVirus@CMOMaharashtra@MahaDGIPR pic.twitter.com/UJX95hvx3g
— MAHA INFO CENTRE (@micnewdelhi) July 11, 2020
The World Health Organisation hailed the efforts taken by Maharashtra government to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the state, especially Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums at a time when cases are on the record rise in the city of Mumbai.
“And some of these examples are Italy, Spain and South Korea, and even in Dharavi – a densely packed area in the megacity of Mumbai,” WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus said.
It is pertinent to note that Dharavi, which is located in India’s commercial capital Mumbai, is spread in less than 2.5 square kilometres and has a population over 650,000. Dharavi was the epicentre of the coronavirus in Mumbai, which resulted in the spread of the coronavirus cases not just in the city but also in Maharashtra.
Dharavi has currently 291 active cases, while 1,815 patients have recovered and discharged from health facilities. However, Maharashtra has continued to report fresh number of coronavirus cases.
The tally of the coronavirus cases in Dharavi has reached 2,400 cases after nine new infections were detected. Mumbai has recorded over 91,500 coronavirus cases and 5,241 deaths.
Maharashtra – the epicentre of coronavirus cases in the country
While Dharavi may have managed to contain the virus, the same cannot be said about rest of the city and state as yet. Maharashtra has been pulling the overall average of India’s coronavirus cases. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra has been widely criticised for the mismanagement of the coronavirus cases in the state after more than 2.4 lakh people got affected for the Chinese pandemic, making almost one-third of the total cases in the country.
The appalling health infrastructure in the state of Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai, was also evident recently after shocking videos had emerged where it was seen how coronavirus patients and other emergency patients were made to share beds due to a shortage in capacity. The coronavirus patients being treated at Mumbai’s Sion hospital emergency ward were seen sharing beds, with two people being allocated to a bed. With a rising shortage in beds, the patients, many with coronavirus symptoms are also sharing a single oxygen tank.
The videos of the patients lying almost on top of each other, sleeping on shared stretchers or just lying on the floor had also gone viral some days back.
Earlier, another chilling video of the Sion hospital had gone viral on social media in which it was clearly seen that corpses were kept in the ward in which the patients of coronavirus were admitted. The dead bodies of coronavirus patients were kept next to the patients under treatment in a Hospital of Mumbai in the Sion area.
Later, shocking case of alleged negligence by authorities in Maharashtra was reported as at least 12 people died in a span of two weeks in a BMC-run hospital in Jogeshwari, Mumbai due to a shortage in oxygen supply to coronavirus patients.
Maharashtra remains the most-affected state in the country, with nearly 2,46,600 cases reported out of the country’s 8,20,916 cases. The state has also seen 9,893 deaths.
Meanwhile, Mumbai city has alone crossed the 90,000-mark to reach 91,547 cases. The city has also reported 5,241 deaths.
