India Uses Technology to Fight COVID-19

▴ India Uses Technology to Fight COVID19
Confirmed cases in the city have ticked up above 1,900, including 113 deaths

In an air-conditioned government building in Mumbai, a dozen officials are glued to a giant screen showing live drone and CCTV footage of crowded slums, the frontline in the city's battle to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

When cameras captured dozens of shoppers thronging a market in Mumbai's low-income Dongri area last week, violating the countrywide lockdown begun on March 25, officials called in the police to disperse the crowd.

Twenty minutes later, the footage from Dongri showed only a handful of people still milling around.

To help enforce a lockdown in what is one of the most densely populated areas on earth, authorities are using drones, re-oriented traffic cameras, and heat maps, but these can fall short when it comes to maze-like slum alleys.

"Hundreds will fall through the cracks, thousands. But as long as it is not in millions we are safe," Praveen Pardeshi, who heads the city's main civic body, told Reuters in an interview.

Mumbai is home to around 12 million people, of which some 65% live in slums. A further six million people are estimated to live in peripheral districts.

Confirmed cases in the city have ticked up above 1,900, including 113 deaths, making up around 15% of India's more than 12,000 known cases.

Mumbai's Dharavi, often considered Asia's biggest slum with an estimated 1 million residents, has reported 71 cases and experts fear the number could climb quickly.

Authorities stress that part of Mumbai's high rates stem from more aggressive testing. The city has conducted 2,374 tests per million, versus 448 per million in capital New Delhi, according to a Mumbai government report reviewed by Reuters on Thursday.

Around 82% of coronavirus patients in Mumbai are stable, with just 2% requiring critical care, the data shows.

"If this percentage remains of stable cases, then we are through," said Pardeshi.

Authorities have cordoned off parts of the slums, set up special fever clinics and created massive quarantine centres in a stadium and empty government buildings.

But the restrictions are hard to observe when living at such close quarter. On a recent afternoon in a narrow passage encumbered by goats and electrical wire, police officers pleaded with a dozen Dharavi residents to go home.

Asif Siddiqui, a construction shop worker who lives in a one-room apartment with six family members, stayed put.

"They ask us to keep one meter distance, but my home is two meters long. We are trying to co-operate, but it is impossible to stay home in a place like this," said Siddiqui.

Source : Reuter
Tags : #Coronavirus #Drones #Technology

About the Author


Team Medicircle

Related Stories

Loading Please wait...

-Advertisements-




Trending Now

Surviving Against the Odds: Steven Spinale's Journey After an Ingrown Hair Turns DeadlyMarch 29, 2024
10 reasons why media research and Planning are essential in Healthcare marketingMarch 29, 2024
The Surprising Link Between Sleep and Age Perception: What You Need to KnowMarch 29, 2024
The Dark Side of Beauty: Kidney Damage from Hair Straightening TreatmentsMarch 29, 2024
The Dark Side of Beauty: Kidney Damage from Hair Straightening TreatmentsMarch 29, 2024
Avance Clinical at World Vaccine Congress to Share Latest Vaccine Clinical Trial News Including an HIV-1 StudyMarch 29, 2024
Sexual wellness superstore, Love Depot launches digital campaign to deliver every desireMarch 28, 2024
Recharge Your Life: Simple Ways to Boost Your Physical and Mental EnergyMarch 28, 2024
The Neurological Toll of Common Household Chemicals: Insights from Recent ResearchMarch 28, 2024
The Aging Puzzle: Decoding the Mechanisms of AgingMarch 28, 2024
The Double-Edged Sword of Kala-azar Treatment: Shedding Light on Eye ComplicationsMarch 28, 2024
FTCCI Launches Industry-Academia Connect to improve the employability of Engineering Graduates and address the growing demand for Talent in Emerging TechMarch 27, 2024
NTT and Olympus Begin World's First Joint Demonstration Experiment of Cloud Endoscopy SystemMarch 27, 2024
NTT and Olympus Begin World's First Joint Demonstration Experiment of Cloud Endoscopy SystemMarch 27, 2024
2nd Edition of IIFL JITO Ahimsa Run for peace & for non-violence to be held on 31st MarchMarch 27, 2024
Brij Hotels Announced 4 Million in Series A Funding March 27, 2024
Combatting Childhood Sedentariness: The Key to Preventing Premature Vascular DamageMarch 27, 2024
Crucial Findings: Unlocking Paths to Combat Ebola's DevastationMarch 27, 2024
Guarding Against Disease: The Crucial Role of Oral Hygiene in Preventive HealthcareMarch 27, 2024
Sanofi & Cipla announce exclusive distribution partnership to expand reach of CNS portfolio in IndiaMarch 26, 2024