Coronavirus Outbreak: BMC Gets 89 Isolation Beds At 10 Private Hospitals In Mumbai

Mumbai’s civic body has roped in as many as 10 private hospitals to fight the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, days after it acquired a private hospital to set up an isolation facility.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said that following today’s collaboration, it has added 89 more isolation beds in the city. The hospitals that are collaborating with the civic body are:

“All these private hospitals have committed that they will start giving the beds in the next few days,” Dr Daksha Shah, deputy health director of BMC, said.

In addition, a 20-bed isolation facility at the BMC’s trauma hospital in Jogeshwari East has been “activated”—or set up—today, Dr Shah said, adding that the hospital will have a separate OPD (outpatient department) and isolation ward for those suspected of contracting the coronavirus.

That comes as Mumbai has so far recorded one death and 16 positive cases of the coronavirus—eight of whom are from Mumbai, with the others are from adjoining districts. 74 patients have been admitted to Kasturba Gandhi Hospital. 10 travellers each have been quarantined in Seven Hills Hospital and Mirage Hotel.

Public Transport Curbs

To prevent over-crowding in public transport and help commuters maintain enough physical space to contain the spread of the virus, the Maharashtra government has decided to run the public transport (rail, buses, metro) at 50 percent passenger capacity in the state. Government offices will function on a day-to-today basis but on 50 percent capacity, it said. These decisions were taken at a meeting headed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today, the CM’s public relations office said in a statement.

The timings of shops selling groceries and medicines will be decided such that some will remain open in the morning and others in the afternoon, the release said.

In Mumbai, BMC has decided to close all shops except pharmacies and grocery stores in Dadar, Mahim and Dharavi on alternate days to contain crowds.