On 12 March, Maharashtra recorded 14 positive Coronavirus cases. In a bid to curb a spike in number of cases, the state government and civic bodies have issued multiple advisories. But, how prepared is the state in the event of an increase in the number of cases?
Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai’s Chinchpokli area is serving as the primary quarantine facility for now. There are 78 beds available in the isolation facility as of 13 March and plans to add more beds are in the pipeline.
As of 12 March, 190 symptomatic patients were admitted in the isolation ward in Kasturba Hospital.
Isolation wards have also been set up in four other Municipal hospital across the city. 20 beds have been set up in the isolation wards of HBT Hospital in Jogeshwari and Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar. Meanwhile, 10 beds have set up at the two Bhabha Hospitals in Bandra and Kurla.
The BMC could also consider roping in private hospitals to ensure adequate facilities are at hand if required. But these hospitals must meet certain requirements, says Director of Infectious Diseases at Jaslok Hospital, Dr Om Shrivastava.
Dr Shrivastava added that these wards that are described as a Bio Safety Level-3 (BSL-3), have very specific requirements. Thus, hospitals needed to follow the required protocol.
Maharashtra has only three testing centres for Coronavirus as of now, with just one in Mumbai at Kasturba Hospital, another at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College in Nagpur and the Pune based NIV.
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