BMC to add 500 beds to treat Covid-19 in children and infants

To prepare for a possible rise in Covid-19 cases among infants and children in the projected third wave which is likely to hit mid-year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to add at least 500 beds to exclusively treat Covid-positive children and infants

To prepare for a possible rise in Covid-19 cases among infants and children in the projected third wave which is likely to hit mid-year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to add at least 500 beds to exclusively treat Covid-positive children and infants. These can be increased as and when needed, civic authorities said.

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As part of the plan, the civic body will convert three maternity homes — one each in the island city, and eastern and western suburbs — into dedicated Covid-19 paediatric hospitals. This is among decisions taken by the civic body last Friday in a meeting chaired by chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner in charge of BMC’s public health department, said, “We aim to start by adding 500 beds in the paediatric wards. But if the need arises, this can be scaled to as many beds as we need. All existing jumbo facilities will have a reserved paediatric ward. The jumbo facilities have a capacity to add 200 to 250 beds to the paediatric section.”

Presently Mumbai has six jumbo facilities — NSCI at Worli, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Nesco in Goregaon, Dahisar jumbo facility which has two wings, Mulund, and one at Richardson and Cruddas.

BMC will also identify maternity homes across the city where a part of the beds will be reserved for children and infants. Kakani said, “Presently, some hospitals have maternity wards that are already treating pregnant women who are Covid-positive. For example, BYL Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central has a maternity ward for pregnant women with Covid-19 infection. Such wards will have partial number of beds reserved for Covid-positive children and infants.”

The civic body has asked all private hospitals in the city to prepare their maternity wards to handle Covid cases in kids and to ramp infrastructure to handle such cases. Presently, at least 173 municipal, private and government hospitals treat Covid-19 patients in the city.

The four upcoming Jumbo facilities at Malad, Sion, Kanjurmarg, and Mahalaxmi will also have dedicated paediatric wards, Kakani said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai has reported a steady decline in the number of daily Covid-19 cases with 1,782 cases and 72 deaths on Monday. The city has reported less than 2,000 cases for the first time since March 16, when it had reported 1,922 cases.

There are now 677,412 total cases in Mumbai and the toll is 13,855. The city has 47,054 active cases.

On Sunday, Mumbai conducted 23,061 Covid-19 tests, which reported Monday’s cases, with a positivity rate of 7.7%.