With the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) expecting an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases after Diwali; At the same time, he has argued that the possible post-festival rebound should not pose a challenge to the availability of Covid-19 beds in the city.
Of the more than 14,000 beds available in Covid-19 hospitals, 66% are vacant, BMC officials said.
In categories like ICU, oxygen and ventilators, the vacancy rate is between 30-60%. The BMC has said that there will be no impact on the availability of beds and, if the need arises, it can increase the capacity of beds as required.
According to data from the BMC dashboard, of the 14,456 beds in hospitals and centers dedicated to Covid-19, 9,580 beds were vacant, as of November 14.
In the case of ICU beds, out of the total 2,003 ICU beds, 803 are available, followed by 5,987 oxygen beds out of the total 8,689 oxygen beds, and 373 ventilators out of 1,183 ventilators are vacant.
After the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, BMC had come under fire for a lack of available beds. To address the problem, the BMC, starting in June 2020, created 24 miniature controlled room war rooms to regulate bed allocation instead of having a single centralized bed allocation control room.
Suresh Kakani, BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner said: “The 14-day cycle after Diwali is crucial and there can be a spike to some degree. But the availability of beds will not be a problem and citizens should not worry about that. However, they must be cautious and take every precaution to control the spread of Covid-19. “
The BMC had reserved 80% of the total beds for Covid-19 in some selected private hospitals and nursing homes. However, with the daily case load dropping, several hospitals and nursing homes had requested to lower the limit and reduce Covid-19 beds, but the BMC has not yet allowed it.
The BMC had also decided to put several temporary Covid-19 centers on hold or close them because the number of cases dropped. But the state Covid-19 task force has warned against permanently closing such centers for fear of a second wave.
Meanwhile, Dr Kedar Toraskar, a member of the Maharashtra Covid-19 task force, said: “We understand that the day-to-day operation of these centers can be a costly affair, but we don’t have to close them, rather we should put them on hold when they can be activated at any time, in case there is a spike in the coming days.
The state government had warned last week of a possible second wave in January and February due to the unblocking of economic activities. There is also a school of thought that cases will increase during the winter season.
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