In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, the state of Maharashtra has come up with a policy to regulate the policies of ambulances and its charges, further addressing the problem of shortages. In a move to empower corporations and district collectors, the policy will help them to rent private ambulances for the patients suffering from coronavirus at a cost fixed by the Regional Transport Authority (RTA).
Furthermore, the policy is said to play a crucial role in capping the prices on ambulances introduced by the RTA in 2014. Rajesh Tope, the Health Minister of Maharashtra, speaking to the media stated that this decision can solve a lot of issues which are being faced by many patients suffering from COVID-19. Tope added that these ambulances will be made available to the public free of cost and the payment will be made by the local body to the ambulance owner, as directed by the RTA.
The officials of the civic body had earlier asserted that Mumbai has more than 650 ambulances dedicated to serving the patients showing symptoms of COVID-19. Rajesh Tope recently mentioned that each ward in Mumbai will have five to 10 ambulances. He further asked the citizens to not pay exorbitant prices for private services.
Speaking of availability of beds in the hospital, Tope said that 500 more beds will be available in the city shortly. Of this, the city will add another 100-50 beds within a week. Currently, beds are being added at St.George’s hospital, at the COVID-19 treatment facility in BKC, Seven Hills, Worli Dome and so on.
On June 26, Maharashtra recorded its highest single-day spike of cases of coronavirus with 5,024 patients testing positive for COVID-19. This has propelled the state's COVID-19 tally to 1,52,765 out of which 65,829 are active cases. The number of recovered in the state rose to 79,815 after 2,363 COVID-19 patients were discharged in the day.
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