Mumbai: Amid rising coronavirus positive cases in the city, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has stepped up efforts to increase the number of beds in BMC and state government hospitals and dedicated COVID hospitals.
The civic body also trying to get more hotels to accommodate doctors, follow the newly circulated laboratory testing protocol without any exception and strictly implement latest discharge protocol issued by the Centre and the state government.
As per the new testing protocol, if high risk contacts are in institutional quarantine and develop symptoms they will be tested. If no symptoms emerge, they will be tested after the 14-day quarantine period is over.
As per the revised discharge protocol, mild/very mild/pre-symptomatic cases admitted to a Covid-19 care facility will undergo regular temperature and pulse oximetry monitoring. The patient can be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset and no fever for 3 days.
There will be no need for testing prior to discharge. Atthe time of discharge, the patient will be advised to follow the home isolation for further 7 days.
These slews of decisions were taken by the meeting chaired by BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal with deans and chief of medical services, additional commissioners to ramp the bed capacity of BMC and government hospitals.
This was necessitated as the Union Ministry of Health on May 7 in its presentation has estimated that the number of coronavirus positive cases will surgeto41,000when BMC may fall short of ICU beds, Oxygen beds, quarantine, and isolation facilities in Mumbai.
Principal Secretary Manisha Mhaiskar and Director of Medical Education and Research Dr Tatyarao Lahane have been tasked with increasing the bed capacity. BMC has proposed total 5,582 additional beds of which3,540 beds were activated while 2,114 beds are being activated.
It will be the responsibility of assistant commissioners to focus on keeping eye on dedicated COVID hospitals and dedicated COVID health centres. There are 500 beds with oxygen supply and 40 ICU beds in DOME, Worli, 500 beds corona care centre (CCC2) with 300 beds with oxygen supply, and 40 ICU beds in BKC/MMRDA.
Further, MMRDA will establish 300 bed ICU at SevenHills and install dialysis machines. At the government-run JJ Hospital, 500 bed CCC2 on five-acre open plot with 50 ICU beds to be set up by MMRDA while the JJ Hospital will install all medical equipment and machineries.
Al hospitals and SevenHills will have software for monitoring of beds at one place installed at DOME, Worli, which will be replicated at all jumbo locations. All medical, nonmedical fixtures, equipment and machineries will be provided and installed by a committee comprising Dr Lahane.
Further, the Dr Lahane-led committee comprising Deans of KEM, Nair, Sion will decide on staff recruitment and placement of staff from the level of Class IV employees to Deputy dean and deans at ramped up and jumbo facilities.
The committee will issue duty rotation pattern of staff working in major hospitals and peripheral hospitals. The training, work deputation, remuneration related queries of the doctors requisitioned through various sources will also be decided by the Committee.
