Mumbai Prepares for the Worst
Mumbai is preparing for the worst and has started creating isolation beds across the city to accommodate future patients.
The BMC has relaxed the lockdown rules in Mumbai and allowed liquor shops and other services to reopen. Yesterday on 5th May, Mumbai recorded 635 new cases in one day. This is the highest number of cases to be recorded in a day in India. Now the total number of cases is around 10,000. Due to the sudden increase in cases in one day, the BMC has said all liquor shops will remain closed except groceries and medical shops. Because relaxation can lead to more infections. A medical team that visited Mumbai last month had predicted that Mumbai in mid or late-May will see 70,000 cases. The BMC did not agree to it that time and had said the peak would be 35,000 cases.
But now the BMC has been working to add thousands of isolation beds in the worst affected area, South – Central Mumbai. Soon, in the huge parking lot of Mahalaxmi Race, there will be a 200-bed isolation facility. Famous tourist places, Nehru Planetarium and Nehru Science Centre are also being converted into isolation centers. Nehru Planetarium will have 200 beds and the Science Center will have 100 beds. Towards the North of Mumbai, 600 beds are being made at Mahim Nature’s Park and 500 beds are being made at MMRDA ground at BKC.
BMC has acquired the Manohar Joshi School in Dharavi for a 600-bed isolation center for high-risk cases.
NSCI Dome at Worli has been converted into a quasi – hospital with 30 more ICU beds with ventilators. A BMC official has said, the NSCI Dome is now a COVID-19 hospital and an OPD has already started there and Oxygen lines have been put. Researchers say that every day about 500 cases are being added in Mumbai. Planning a large number of isolation beds is the right step and priority is to prevent the virus from spreading. If the virus spreads, it will be very difficult to get enough doctors and trained medical workers to treat so many patients.
