Mumbai gets four Covid care centres as cases rise
NUMBER OF INFECTIONS IN INDIA IS EXPECTED TO PASS ONE MILLION THIS MONTH
MUMBAI opened four new coronavirus field hospitals on Tuesday (7) – one among them at a horseracing track – as India’s toll jumped past 20,000.
Hospitals in densely populated capitals such as Mumbai and Delhi are struggling to cope with the epidemic, and India now has around 720,000 infections – the world’s third-highest, as Eastern Eye went to press on Tuesday.
The Mumbai region, which accounts for about a quarter of India’s 20,100 deaths, has suffered a new surge in infections, forcing authorities to build makeshift hospitals and quarantine facilities.
Schools, hotels, a planetarium and a stadium used to host US NBA games last year have all been repurposed, and on Tuesday four new field hospitals, including 700 beds inside the Mahalaxmi horseracing venue, were opened.
The new facilities will together provide an extra 3,500 beds in the city of 20 million, where hospitals have been overwhelmed with hundreds of patients each day.
“Required medical help will be available at these four new treatment centres,” said a government of Maharashtra state spokesman.
India’s caseload is predicted to pass one million this month and not peak for several weeks.
On Monday (6), the health ministry said more than 697,400 cases were recorded, a rise of 24,000 in 24 hours, while Russia had just more than 681,000.
The surge forced some cities to tighten their anti-virus measures –including the eastern metropolis of Kolkata, which halted flights from other major Indian cities on Monday. It has set up dozens of containment zones in recent days.
A new lockdown was imposed on the capital of southern Kerala state, Thiruvananthapuram, with public transport shut and only pharmacies allowed to open.
The clampdown came after hundreds of new cases were reported across the state, which had been praised for its action to curtail the pandemic. It passed a law last Sunday (5) making face masks and social distancing compulsory for the next 12 months.
In Delhi, the first patients were admitted to a sprawling temporary hospital, and doctors and nurses are being drafted in to help with an expected deluge of cases.
The medical team can cope “even if it reaches its peak capacity,” said Vivek Kumar Pandey, a spokesman for the military force running the 10,000-bed complex.
A number of national monuments opened Monday, including the Red Fort and Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi. But the Taj Mahal remained closed because of infections in the region.
Companies that have reopened in recent weeks are facing pressure to take action over rising cases among workers. Unions have demanded that the Bajaj motorbike company halt production at a giant plant in Maharashtra, after more than 250 workers there tested positive for the coronavirus.