With the monsoon having marked its arrival, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now planning to have a dedicated non-Covid hospital, as patients are lining up with other ailments. This move is also necessitated as most of hospitals in the city are treating Covid-19 patients. A decision on the hospital that will be dedicated for monsoon ailments is expected by next week.
Last month, the insecticide department of BMC had, in its nine-day long combing operation, found a total of 1,479 spots infested with the larvae of two species of mosquitoes (dengue and malaria) . “Every year, monsoon preparations begin in March, but this year we have started very late and monsoon has also arrived, so it is going to be difficult for us to control cases of monsoon illness,” said an officer.
Dr Ramesh Bharmal, medical director of civic-run hospitals, said recently they had a meeting on monsoon diseases, at which there was a discussion on dedicating a hospital especially for patients suffering from water and vector-borne diseases. “We are looking for hospitals which have enough beds and can be used in this season. For now, we have selected the mini hospital set up within the Sion Hospital premises for non-Covid patients but a decision on it will be taken next week,” he said.
Further, said Dr Bharmal, they were looking for peripheral hospitals and BMC dispensaries to treat patients suffering from dengue, leptospirosis and other diseases during monsoon.
“We are making a proper plan to handle patients with monsoon diseases, for which we will be focusing on peripheral hospitals and dispensaries. Patients can visit BMC dispensaries for check-ups and if they need to be admitted, they can visit the nearest peripheral hospitals,” Dr Bharmal added.
Health experts said, currently all hospitals are full of Covid patients and the number of cases are increasing daily. As a result, non-Covid patients are reluctant to visit any hospital, for fear of getting infected.
“It will be a difficult situation for the BMC to handle both corona and vector-borne diseases at the same time, as currently, there are no dedicated hospitals where they can treat patients suffering from monsoon diseases,” said Dr Vikrant Shah, infectious disease expert.
People are requested not to ignore fever and desist from self-medication. They should be alert to symptoms for the next 7 to 10 days. If they have symptoms like fever with chills, joint pains, rashes, cough, breathlessness, diarrhoea, vomiting, sore throat orjaundice, then they should immediately visit a nearby dispensary or inform the community health volunteer or consult their doctors.
