Coronavirus: Mumbai has reported 10,030 cases and 31 deaths in the past 24 hours. (Deposit)
Bombay:
The ground-level situation in Mumbai, which is battling the massive surge in coronavirus cases, is grim, a senior doctor at one of the city’s largest hospitals has said. The city has reported 10,030 cases and 31 deaths in the past 24 hours. This is the biggest increase in the number of deaths in Mumbai since October.
Mumbai hospitals have seen a 300% increase in admissions in recent months even as the bed allocation process has been streamlined by the civic body to avoid chaos and overcrowding in hospitals.
“The situation on the ground is very grim. The number of cases has been increasing for almost four weeks,” Dr Hemant Deshmukh, dean of KEM hospital, told NDTV.
KEM hospital alone has 228 Covid patients admitted at present. The hospital only admits patients who are in critical condition.
“The increase in beds in the city of Mumbai has reached its maximum. We currently have enough vacant beds for mild and moderate illnesses,” he said.
As several hospitals in Maharashtra have reported a shortage of oxygen cylinders needed to treat critical patients, the doctor said there was an immediate need for an oxygen supply as well as medicine.
“What we need right now is an adequate supply of oxygen as well as medication to treat these patients who are being transported,” said Dr Deshmukh.
In the second wave of the pandemic, especially in cities, young people appear to be more vulnerable to the virus.
“The patients who are arriving now are in the 35 to 55 age range, more than any other age group. Although (people) under 35 are also affected, children are affected,” he said. said Dr Deshmukh.
Maharashtra, the worst-affected state in the country, has reported 55,469 cases and 297 deaths in the past 24 hours.
The center said on Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccinations will not be open to a larger group anytime soon, saying the most vulnerable groups must be covered first.
Today, Maharashtra’s Health Minister Rajesh Tope told NDTV that parts of Maharashtra may run out of Covid vaccines in three days and the center has been called for more. “We don’t have doses in most of our vaccination centers and they have had to close. They are sending people back because of the lack of doses. I have asked you to provide us with vaccines,” he said. .
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow people over 25 to receive the vaccine. His Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, also called for the expansion of the vaccination campaign.