Fadnavis urges Maharashtra govt to create a dashboard for bed availability in Mumbai

Former Maharashtra CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Monday urged the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to create a dashboard for bed availability in Mumbai. Fadnavis stated that he had received multiple calls regarding people having to run from pillar to post as hospitals were not admitting them. He opined that such a dashboard should be publicly accessible so that individuals can get accurate information pertaining to treatment based on the availability of beds. As of 6 pm on May 17, Mumbai has reported 19,967 COVID-19 cases and 734 casualties. 

Read: COVID-19 Cases In Mumbai Surge Close To 20,000 Mark With 1571 New Patients

Read: Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray, 8 Others Take Oath As MLCs

Capacity for COVID-19 treatment to be increased to 1 lakh beds

Speaking to the media on May 17, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Iqbal Chahal revealed that the civic body shall soon increase the bed capacity for COVID-19 treatment to one lakh in Mumbai. Chahal mentioned that an 800-bed facility at the MMRDA ground in Bandra-Kurla complex will start functioning from May 18 onwards. Noting that the parking lot at the Mumbai airport could be used to accommodate 50,000 beds, the BMC Commissioner also said that beds could be put up at two parking lots near Santacruz and Breach Candy Hospital. 

Additionally, he dismissed the possibility of converting Wankhede Stadium into a quarantine facility. To buttress his point, he cited that an open ground would not be useful for this purpose during the upcoming monsoon in Mumbai. Highlighting that most of the COVID-19 cases were being reported from the 690 containment zones in Mumbai, he informed the reporters that the civic body's ambulance strength had been increased from 80 to 350. 

Read: Maharashtra Sees Highest 1-day Spike With 2347 Cases; State Extends Lockdown Till May 31

Testing norms in Mumbai

Meanwhile, the Public Health Department of the BMC explained that the testing in Mumbai was taking place as per the ICMR guidelines. For instance, any person having a fever, cough, or breathing difficulty is being tested only after producing a prescription from a registered medical practitioner. Moreover, it stated that close contacts of confirmed cases with symptoms, all pregnant women (expecting delivery in 4-5 days) coming from containment zones, patients on haemodialysis with symptoms are being tested. The BMC stressed that COVID-19 testing was neither required for persons completing home quarantine duration nor at the time of discharge for mild or moderate cases from hospitals. 

Read: Coronavirus Live Updates: As India Enters Lockdown 4.0, COVID-19 Cases Rise To 96,169