New Mumbai Covid guidelines: MCGM centralises hospital bed allotment; activates 'max beds'

In the latest development, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has announced that no direct admission would be provided by the hospitals in the wake of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the city. Issuing an order consisting of guidelines for the COVID-19 facilities, MCGM asked the hospitals to strictly follow the decentralized bed management and smooth handling of COVID-19 patients at Ward level War rooms and said that no bed should be allotted by the former without informing the latter. The MCGM order directed the hospitals in Mumbai to activate maximum beds in order to accommodate the increasing number of COVID-19 patients in the city, 

Issuing the order on Tuesday, MCGM directed the Assistant Commissioner (AC) who are in charge of every ward to take control of beds in nursing homes and local hospitals for management of COVID-19 patients. The MCGM also allowed the ACs to deploy police personnel at the nursing homes if required and also ordered the ACs to deploy teachers or other staff in all shifts to ensure bed allotment by Ward War rooms only in the selected nursing homes or hospitals. Further, MCGM ordered that no beds should be allotted for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients without comorbidity and it also directed hospitals to urgently discharge asymptomatic patients in order to ensure the availability of beds.

The order also asked the doctors at the Ward War room to follow the prescribed protocol while allowing beds to patients. Hospital beds and ICU berths at ward level nursing homes and hospitals will be exhausted primarily before allotting beds in ESIS hospitals. Beds and ICU berths in private hospitals can be allotted after the above-mentioned resources are exhausted following which beds of various categories available at Jumbo Field Facility Hospitals, Government Hospitals in Mumbai can be allotted. Further, MCGM directed the hospitals to ensure that 80% of total COVID-19 beds and 100% of ICU beds at private hospitals to be kept reserved for Ward War room allotment of COVID-19 patients only. 

The MCGM directed all COVID-19 facilities to check oxygen supply systems, ventilators, stock of medicines and logistics including masks, PPE kits, VTM kits etc. It also ordered the structural stability and fire audit of all COVID-19 facilities to be assessed immediately. MCGM warned that the violation of the issued guidelines was punishable under the Epidemic Act, 1987. 

MCGM's Guidelines for Covid hospitals

03 29 2021 Covid 19 Guidelines by Republic on Scribd

Mumbai reports 5888 COVID-19 cases

As India celebrated Holi on Monday, Mumbai reported 5888 new cases and 12 new deaths. With 3561 new recoveries, Mumbai's cured tally rose to 3,44,496. Currently, Mumbai has 4,04,562 cases of which 47,453 are active and 11,661 deaths. Mumbai's recovery rate has risen to 85% now while its growth rise has soared to 1.27% as Mumbai locals reopen from general public under restricted timings. BMC reported that 40,17,316 samples have been tested till date with a 9.92% positivity rate. With the increasing number of cases, BMC reported that 226 out of 1036 ventilator beds are vacant, while 448 out of 1709 ICU beds are vacant, till date.