Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday took stock of the COVID-19 situation in Mumbai, and directed the administration to focus on the management of hospital beds, oxygen supply, and availability of medicines. He also directed the administration to pay special attention and expedite the turn-around time of COVID-19 test reports.
During the meeting, Uddhav said that the number of patients in the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 is increasing significantly. Early diagnosis of the infection in such conditions can put a curb to the rising cases. For this, necessary planning should be done to make the test reports of the patients available from all the medical laboratories in Mumbai in less time. Emphasis should also be placed on the availability of additional beds. He also asked the administration to coordinate with manufacturers and suppliers of medical oxygen and medicines.
Meanwhile, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said that there are sufficient beds in the city. "There are a total of 153 COVID hospitals in Mumbai which currently have 20,400 beds. This number will be 22,000 next week. From 10 February 2021, 1050 new ICU beds have been made available. The daily number of infected patients has now stabilized at between 8,000 and 10,000, and the number of patients recovering daily is also around 10,000. Despite the increase in the number of patients , today 3,900 beds are available. Various hotels are being used to relocate patients recovering from large private hospitals and those who do not need oxygen supply," Chahal said.
The BMC Commissioner added that efforts are being made to ensure that there is no shortage of drugs including Remdesivir. Orders have been issued to procure 2 lakh doses of the anti-viral drug. Of this, 25,000 doses have been received, he added.
Moreover, 350 new ambulances were added to the fleet last week, said Chahal. In addition, to ensure smooth oxygen supply, six coordinating officers have been appointed by the Corporation to the Food and Drug Administration Department, he said.
