17 private hospitals to treat flu in a week

Now, you can get treated for swine flu at a nearby private hospital. But after a week. The state has agreed to let 17 private hospitals help tackle the situation.

Now, you can get treated for swine flu at a nearby private hospital. But after a week. The state has agreed to let 17 private hospitals help tackle the situation.

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But most will take at least a week to set up the screening and isolation facility. While 11 hospitals are from Mumbai, five are from Pune and one from Navi Mumbai.

This means Mumbai will have 106 more beds for patients — 54 for confirmed cases, 52 for suspected cases.

Patients will be kept separately, maintaining the 6-ft distance in wards to prevent infection from spreading.

Of the 22 hospitals that applied, a special central government team gave the nod to 11. These hospitals have to ensure that isolation wards have separate entry points, are delinked to the central air-conditioning and meet other norms.

“We have created a new ward by demolishing a wall and putting a separate door in the main building,” said General Vijay Krishna, chief executive officer, Breach Candy Hospital. “It will be ready by end of next week.”

Hinduja Hospital’s Medical Director Dr Gustad Daver also said the 10-bed facility would be “operational in a week”.

State Additional Secretary (Public Health), Sharwaree Gokhale, said they were issuing protocol on how to go about administering drugs.

Reacting to Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal’s comment that the government had not done enough to control swine flu, Gokhale said, “I agree the situation is not under control, but we have done the best possible to manage it.”

The Central government will send an additional 2.5 lakh Tamiflu tablets to the state.