BMC starts to shut down some Covid Care Centres

With fewer than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 being reported on an average in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is shutting down some Covid Care Centres (CCCs).

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At present, Mumbai has 332 CCCs for high-risk contacts, with bed capacity of more than 48,000. There are 173 CCCs for positive asymptomatic patients, with over 23,000 beds. As the pandemic curve has flattened in Mumbai, almost 70% CCCs are now empty. Consequently, BMC is gradually handing these rented lodges, schools, auditoriums and hotels back to owners. Medical equipment from the CCCs, like oximeters, glucometers, oxygen cylinders and blood pressure monitors, will later be used in secondary healthcare facilities.

“At present, we aren’t handing over all the equipment. We have to remain prepared in case Mumbai is hit with a second wave of Covid-19. Annually, peripheral hospitals, dispensaries and health posts have their own demand for medical devices. So these equipment will be sent to these facilities for future usage,” said additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani.

BMC runs 16 peripheral hospitals, 175 municipal dispensaries, 29 maternity homes with over 200 health posts across the city.

CCCs were set up in all civic wards by BMC in March, to quarantine high risk contacts and asymptomatic patients. By June, BMC was conducting around 4,500 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests every day and an average of 1,100 new Covid-19 cases were reported daily. Since the inclusion of rapid antigen tests, daily average testing is over 7,000, with more than 10,000 tests being conducted on some days. Despite the increased testing, the daily average caseload for Covid-19 has remained below 1,000 in the city. The positivity rate has come down from 22% in July to 19.51% in August.

The civic body has spent around Rs 850 crore on health infrastructure in the ongoing pandemic, of which Rs 130 crore was spent on essential machines. “Most equipment that was donated by philanthropists will be used at secondary health care facilities along with purchased equipment. Rented equipment will be handed over to owners,” said Kakani.

Health activists have welcomed civic body’s decision. Pradeep Patil, who is associated with the non-government organisation (NGO) Jan Kalyan, said, “Even through health posts and peripheral hospitals form the backbone of the healthcare system in Mumbai, they lack basic amenities. It will be a great boost for medical infrastructure if BMC can also shift all additional equipment like ventilators and x-ray machines for Covid-19 patients to these centres once the pandemic is over.”