In an effort to meet an anticipated increase in the number of Covid-19 infections during May, the Maharashtra Government has requested hospitals, institutions and buildings under the management of the Railways, Mumbai Port Trust, Indian Army, Navy and other Central Government undertakings to make available Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds at their facilities available across Maharashtra.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said: “For the past three months, the State Government has been fighting a war against virus and so far, has managed to contain it’s spread through various measures. The number of tests is being significantly increased, and hence, the patient count is rising. The numbers of patients being cured and discharged has also increased”.
“The state government has requested hospitals, institutions and buildings under the management of the Railways, Mumbai Port Trust, Indian Army, Navy and other Central Government undertakings to make available Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds at their facilities available across Maharashtra. I have personally spoken to people at a higher level in this regard,” the chief minister said.
Uddhav said that since the Union government had predicted that the severity of Coronavirus would increase in the month of May, his government had planned to increase the isolation facilities and ICU beds in Mumbai, Pune and other prominent cities in the state.
“In this context, the government has already created ICU beds in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Race Course, Nehru Science Centre, Nehru Planetarium, Goregaon Exhibition Centre, Richardson & Cruddas factory, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and other locations,” the chief minister said.
“Similarly, the Municipal Commissioners and district collectors concerned are creating additional ICUs beds in other big cities in the state. We are Also getting huge places belonging to private hospitals and major organisation for creating ICU beds in other parts of the state,” Uddhav said.
The chief minister said that following the relaxation of lockdown norms, the people had started coming to Maharashtra from other parts of the country and even people will start returning from abroad in the coming days. “Keeping this and as well as the anticipated increase in number of cases, the state government is all to increase the availability of ICU beds in various hospitals, including those Railways, Mumbai Port Trust, Indian Army, Navy and other Central Government undertakings
Meanwhile, Brihanm umbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi has authorized all ward officers in the city to requisition additional beds/wards/facilities in private hospitals or clinics for Covid-19 patients.
Mumbai is the worst Covid-19 affected city in the country. With 25 fresh deaths 769 new infected cases reported on Wednesday, the total number of deaths has risen to 412, while the total number of infected cases has mounted to 10714.