After several of its doctors and staff were tested positive for COVID-19, Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital was sealed as a countermeasure. With several doctors and staff members said to have recovered from the virus, Wockhardt officially restarted operations on Monday. Managing Director of Wockhardt Hospitals, Zahabiya Khorakiwala said that it is not quite ready to offer emergency treatment for other ailments and will focus solely on COVID-19 patients with moderate or severe symptoms.
“We will also make space for moderate patients who do not require ICU, and those who prefer to be in a private facility as compared with public hospitals will also be admitted,” Khorakiwala added.
He said that Wockhardt has resumed operations with 20 beds for critical care, while 18 more beds will be added over the subsequent 48 hours, and the capacity will be increased thereafter depending on the requirement.
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Given the relative success seen with convalescent plasma therapy across the globe, Wockhardt will reportedly start a controlled trial on 20 patients. For this purpose, previously infected doctors from the hospital who have now fully recovered will be used as donors.
Mumbai needs all the help it can get from private hospitals as its healthcare apparatus comes under strain with cases and containment zones increasing. Primary contacts of affected patients are now being quarantined in civic facilities, while there’s still no understanding about the number of infected people around the city. Authorities are also concerned about an acute lack of beds in the hospitals for severely ill patients.
In congested areas like slums, social distancing has been nearly impossible to follow as people venture out into the streets to avoid cramping in tight spaces. Police officials have been working tirelessly to stop this, although violations are found almost every day in parts of Mumbai.
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