Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium to be converted into Covid facility

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday notified the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to hand over the Wankhede stadium premises to the civic body so

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday notified the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to hand over the Wankhede stadium premises to the civic body so that it can be converted into a temporary facility to house emergency BMC staff from the A ward as well as quarantine high-risk contacts of positive patients, if necessary.

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In response to Friday’s notice, MCA’s president Dr Vijay Patil said, “During these unprecedented times, Mumbai Cricket Association will extend all possible support to the government authorities fighting this pandemic.”

As a policy, BMC is acquiring gymnasiums, clubs, marriage halls, dormitories at schools and colleges, hotels and lodges and grounds temporarily, to convert them to Covid Care Centers, as a contingency plan for a possible surge in Covid-19 cases.

Sanjeev Jaiswal, additional municipal commissioner in BMC, in charge of managing hospitals, healthcare centres, and quarantine facilities in Mumbai said, “Like Wankhede stadium, we are also readying other gymkhanas such as the Police Gymkhana, Parsi Gymkhana, Islam Gymkhana, for Covid care centres (CCC). However, the grounds at these places are not apt for housing high-risk contacts of Covid-19 positive patients. CCC1, used for quarantining high-risk contacts have to be in standalone buildings. There have to be separate rooms or cubicles, and toilet facilities. In large centres like these gymkhanas, cubicles will have to be made.” Jaiswal said such large facilities can instead be care centres for positive asymptomatic and mild symptomatic.

At Wankhede Stadium, spaces under the pavilion of the stadium, which is enclosed, ventilated, and has access to bathroom facilities will be converted to quarantine facilities.

BMC is also scaling beds at existing CCC1 facilities to 1,00,000 by the end of May or by the first week of June, to support its contact tracing efforts. Jaiswal said, “One aspect of this is we are preparing for cases that will come up in June. What will be needed in June needs to be ready in May. Going by the present mathematical projection of rising in cases, BMC is scaling up beds at dedicated Covid hospitals, dedicated Covid health centres, and Covid care centres.”