India struggles to contain coronavirus, enforce lockdown in sprawling city slums

A view of Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums, during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to slow the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, April 9, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India faces an uphill battle to contain coronavirus outbreaks in the slums of the vast financial capital Mumbai amid fears the virus is gathering pace in the dense, unsanitary alleyways where it is next to impossible to enforce a full lockdown.

India, the world's second most populous country after China with 1.3 billion people, has reported more than 5,800 cases of the virus, including 169 deaths, a far cry from the high tolls in several European countries and the United States.