Isolation wards at 3 Mumbai hospitals soon

MUMBAI: Three state-run hospitals in Mumbai will soon have isolation wards comprising 500 beds to deal with rising coronavirus cases, city Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh said on Monday.

Speaking to PTI, Shaikh said these isolation wards will come up at GT Hospital, J J Hospital and St George Hospital.

“The total capacity of these hospitals exclusively for Covid-19 patients is gong to be 500 beds. We have also placed an order for 100 ventilator-beds for the three state-run hospitals in Mumbai city,” the minister said.

These 100 ventilator-equipped beds will be part of the 500 beds which have been planned in the isolation wards, he said.

“Space has been identified and basic preparation is going on for setting up the isolation centres which will start functioning with full steam in the next 15 days. We will be able to start operations in the next 10 days as soon as we get the first lot of ventilators. Other required materials for these beds like mattresses, machinery and medical equipment are being ordered. But for all these wards to become fully functional, it will take 15 days,” Shaikh said.

The Maharashtra government has already sanctioned a sum of ~15 crore for this purpose, he said.

“If required, we would not hesitate to draw more funds from state exchequer in this war against the coronavirus outbreak. We are preparing ourselves for the worst possible situation,” he said.