Chasing the virus: How India's largest slum beat back a pandemic

Medical staff wearing personal protective equipment conducting door-to-door medical screenings in late June inside the Dharavi slums in Mumbai. Photos: AFP

When Covid-19 claimed its first victim in India's largest slum in April, many feared the disease would turn its narrow, congested streets into a graveyard, with social distancing or contact tracing all but impossible.

But three months on, Mumbai's Dharavi offers a rare glimmer of hope with new infections shrinking, thanks to an aggressive strategy that focused on "chasing the virus, instead of waiting for disaster", according to city official Kiran Dighavkar.