Given that COVID-19 is not the only illness that troubles the people of Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to allocate eight hospitals across the city to treat non-COVID-19 patients.
The BMC cites the oncoming monsoons and the water-borne diseases that it brings with it as one of the major reasons for this decision. Some of the diseases that run rampant during the monsoons include malaria, cholera, dengue, typhoid, leptospirosis, and gastroenteritis.
As per medical experts, the surge in these diseases is usually noticed within 3-4 weeks of the monsoon’s arrival. With this in mind, the authorities have reportedly reserved 8,000 beds for such patients across the eight hospitals as a precautionary measure.
Additional Municipal Commissioner of the BMC, Suresh Kakani said, “Some hospitals that do not exclusively cater to non-COVID patients may still get undiagnosed Covid-19 patients. We have asked them to keep separate facilities for COVID-19 patients.”
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He added that there will be 26 maternity homes that are reserved for non-COVID patients. As of now, the BMC has set aside 4,000 of the 12,000 civic hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. While KEM and Sion hospitals have been asked to admit all patients, Nair Hospital will remain a dedicated COVID-19 hospital.
One of the doctors from KEM Hospital said that they will reserve a separate building or a floor for non-COVID patients within their hospital premises. The BMC also noted that Rajawadi and Jogeshwari Trauma hospitals will remain COVID-19 facilities.
The Coronavirus pandemic has slowed down somewhat in Mumbai, though cases are now touching 62,875 as of the most recent figures. With 5,751 deaths in Maharashtra, the state continues to be the worst impacted region in the country.
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