Amidst the rise in the number of CoVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has urged the centre to make medical facilities available in the hospitals run by the Railways, Mumbai Port Trust, Indian Army and Navy, and other establishments.
“For the past few months, the state government has been fighting a war against CoVID-19. So far, we have managed to contain its spread by adopting various measures. As a part of its planning, the state government has requested hospitals, institutions and buildings under the management of the Railways, Mumbai Port Trust, Indian Army and Navy and other central government undertakings to make their facilities available across Maharashtra,’’ said Thackeray in his communication to the centre.
He further said that this is to make sure there is availability of ICU beds and isolation centres as a part of preparedness.
CoVID-19: Behind the scenes
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray chaired cabinet meeting and reviewed the coronavirus pandemic situation in 36 districts. Task force head Dr Sanjay Oak made a presentation on the present state of the CoVID-19 containment strategy. Further, the Public Health Secretary Pradeep Vyas and BrihanMumbai Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi also made presentations on a slew of measures taken to curb the spread of the virus. The cabinet took a decision to pay more attention to Mumbai, Pune, Malegaon and Jalgaon, where cases are rapidly rising, and make every effort to avoid transmission.
Thackeray’s appeal to the centre comes amidst the surge in the number of cases to 16,758 with 651 deaths as on May 6 in the state.
Minister of Public Health Rajesh Tope, who participated at the video conference with Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, informed that the centre has hinted that the ICU beds in hospitals from defence and railways will be made available to the state as a last resort.
Thackeray said that the government has created isolation and ICU beds in Mahalaxmi Racecourse, Nehru Science Centre, Nehru Planetarium, Goregaon Exhibition Centre, Richardson & Cruddas factory and Bandra Kurla Complex to accommodate CoVID-19 patients. In addition, similar facilities are being put in place in other districts too. He reiterated that more ICU beds and other medical facilities are required to accommodate Indian nationals returning from various countries.
