Amid rising numbers of COVID-19 patients across the city, Lilavati Hospital in Bandra has set up beds in the lift lobby to cater to coronavirus patients. A video of the beds in the lobby has been doing the rounds of social media. Officials said the demand for COVID beds has increased, due to which they had to set up beds in the lobby.
Senior doctors from the hospital said the COVID beds in the lobby had been set up only after securing consent from the patients. Currently, there are 151 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, and all beds are full. As a result, the waiting list has also increased.
“This video is 10-15 days old, and they had to set up such beds so that COVID patients who need hospitalisation can get a bed. Now also, we have a waiting list of more than two days and soon one more floor of the hospital will be dedicated to COVID patients,” a senior doctor said.
Active COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra have touched 5.3 lakh, of which 88,053 were in Mumbai. As a result, the demand for COVID beds has increased and all private hospitals have run out of beds and are forced to make necessary arrangements to cater to the rising demand.
Senior officials from the civic public health department said that the focus will now be on ‘right triage’ to identify patients who need beds. “Most cases in the city are asymptomatic and 10-12% of them need beds. We are increasing the bed capacity in our jumbo centres and have also asked private hospitals to add more beds for Covid care,’’ he said.
