Dial 1916 to find a bed at nearby COVID-19 hospitals

An isolation ward for COVID-19 patients at JJ Hospital. File pic

With increasing number of cases of the novel Coronavirus in the city, the civic body has made public the information about the bed count and availability at the hospitals designated to treat COVID-19 patients. You can just dial the helpline number, 1916, and get the information you need.

According to the BMC, people can get the names of all the hospitals designated for COVID-19 treatment and the number of available beds via the helpline number, and select their preference accordingly whenever needed. The BMC will also inform the hospital about the patient seeking admission.

The availability of beds at the hospitals are at present being updated regularly, but the BMC is working on a project to update the information in real time. As part of the final stage of the initiative, the BMC is trying to rope in private organisations like BookMyShow to display the real-time updates on the availability of the beds at the hospitals. The BMC is also making efforts to add more beds to the current infrastructure, fearing further rise in the number of infections.

An in-house team of doctors have been continuously attending several calls on the helpline number started for people to report any symptoms of COVID-19 and seek medical guidance. In case the callers need medical examination, the doctors given them the name of the laboratories near their homes for a test. The doctors also give necessary guidance on self-isolation if needed.

Option number two on the call helps the caller seek assistance for an ambulance. For other civic services, callers can select the fourth option after dialling 1916, said Mahesh Narvekar, disaster unit chief of the BMC. The civic body has also erected hoardings to inform the citizens about their initiatives.

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