Maharashtra Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday admitted that Mumbai was facing shortage of ICU beds and called the situation ‘hand-to-mouth’ for the financial capital of the country.
However, during his address via social media, Tope said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was adding a huge amount of beds and the situation would improve in the coming days.
“The Maharashtra government is planning to increase the beds in Covid Care Centres to one lakh. Currently, the number is 60,000,” Rajesh Tope said while adding that the 80 per cent beds from private hospitals will be taken to increase bed capacity.
A notification will also be issued to fix charges at the government rate for those 80 per cent beds and for the remaining 20 per cent the private hospitals can charge their rate, Tope said.
According to BMC the ICU beds are being increased to 1,000 from the current number of 535. In 38 COVID hospitals, the number of beds have been increased to 5,030 including 3,657 beds in the public sector. Moreover, the civic body is also working to increase the current 1,100 beds in dedicated corona health centres - for moderately ill patients.
An official informed that the combined beds for DCH and DCHC is 6,130 and the upcoming facilities will be ready by May 31 which will add more beds with oxygen. The civic body targets to increase the number of beds of DCH and DCHC to 10,000.
During his address via social media, Rajesh Tope also said that the doubling rate in Maharashtra has increased as well. The doubling rate is the number of days during which cases double. The doubling rate was three days earlier but not it is 14 days, he added.
Maharashtra has 37,136 COVID-19 cases while the death toll has reached 1,325. In Mumbai alone, the number of cases has risen to 22,746 and the death toll in the city has climbed up to 800.
BMC Plans To Go Aggressive In Tackling COVID-19 In Dharavi
Hospitals In Maharashtra Have Started Prescribing The Drug Tocilizumab To Treat COVID-19 Patients
Share
Tweet
