Officials say wards can spring up at short notice at four peripheral hospitals should need arise
File pic
Civic officials are taking stock of the situation as the number of hospitalisations across the city due to COVID-19 crossed the 100 mark on Friday.
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Officials told mid-day that isolation wards can be set up in four BMC-run peripheral hospitals, should the need arise.
In January, the city reported COVID cases in single digits. In fact, on January 24, not even a single case was reported while the number of patients hospitalised was two. However, the scenario has changed.
Borivli’s Bhagwati hospital, one of the spots where isolation wards can be set up. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Since mid-February, the number of cases has been increasing; and the city reported over 200 in the past three days. While most patients don’t need hospitalisation, the admission count has gone up.
Currently, Mumbai has around 4,356 beds; as of Thursday, only 100 beds are occupied. On the condition of anonymity, a senior civic health official said, “We had a meeting with the additional municipal commissioner during which the COVID situation was discussed. If cases go up, peripheral hospitals must be prepared with isolation facilities. We have identified four hospitals that can handle COVID cases if their number increases—BDBA hospital at Kandivli, Bhagwati hospital at Borivli, Rajawadi hospital at Ghatkopar and Kurla’s Bhabha hospital. A ward can be set up in them for the isolation of patients. We can create an isolation ward within 24 hours.
Also read: Mumbai records 276 new Covid-19 cases
Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Sanjeev Kumar told mid-day, “There is no need to worry as we have ample beds for COVID patients and we have asked our peripheral hospitals to be ready in case of any emergency.”
The state and city on Friday reported the highest number of cases so far this year. While Maharashtra saw 926 new cases, 276 of the 1,456 samples tested in the city turned out to be positive. Three deaths were reported across the state in the past 24 hours, one each in Raigad, Kolhapur and Gondia district. The state’s active COVID patient count is 4,487 out of which Mumbai accounts for 1,367 cases. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a review meeting and asked state health officials to be vigilant as the testing positivity rate of Maharashtra is over 10 per cent. He also directed that a mock drill be conducted on April 10 and 11.
4,356
No. of hospital beds in city
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