With seven deaths and at least 118 new coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) cases reported on Friday, Maharashtra’s death toll touched 201, with 3,320 cases so far. The number of cases in Mumbai rose 2,120 with 77 new cases, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The number in the Dharavi area reached 101.
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Among the new cases, 23 were reported from Pune, four from Malegaon in Nashik and one from Thane district, said officials. Till date, 300 patients across the State have been discharged after a complete recovery.
Even as more frontline warriors such as doctors and nurses tested positive in Mumbai, two large hospitals that had been declared containment zones after numerous staff and doctors had been infected, are likely to resume their services soon.
Sion Hospital on Friday confirmed seven resident doctors and seven nurses — including a staff nurse, an assistant matron and five nursing students — had tested positive for the coronavirus. While two nurses have been discharged, the rest are undergoing treatment at SevenHills Hospital in Marol.
Under quarantine
Two asymptomatic resident doctors are quarantined in a bungalow, while the rest are in quarantine in the hospital. An official at Sion hospital said, “We have demanded individual rooms for the doctors so that they do not mingle with each other and stay segregated.” Two more junior resident doctors at Bombay Hospital tested positive on Friday, taking the tally of infected staff at the hospital to six. Consultant physician Dr. Gautam Bhansali said the two doctors, who are attached to surgery and oncology departments, are asymptomatic.
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At the civic-run KEM Hospital, the tally of coronavirus cases rose to 10 after two resident doctors tested positive on Thursday. Dean Dr. Hemant Deshmukh said most of the positive staffers were not on COVID-19 duty.
Wockhardt and Jaslok hospitals, which were declared containment zones, are on their way to resume full-fledged services. Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said the hospitals are sanitising their equipment and premises.
“They will reopen as general hospitals. We have asked them to also cater to COVID-19 patients and provide separate entry and exit for them. We have asked them to ensure restricted entry to COVID-19 patient areas. For example, if the facility is on the seventh floor, the elevator while moving from the ground floor to the seventh floor should not stop anywhere in between,” said Mr. Kakani.
In Pune, 400-odd resident doctors in Sassoon and BJ Medical College and Hospital, affiliated to the Medical Association of Resident Doctors, along with workers of Sassoon Hospital, undertook a symbolic protest against the government’s decision to transfer its dean Dr. Ajay Chandanwale.
The staff questioned the decision to transfer a senior doctor heading a vital Covid-19 treatment center in Pune division in the midst of a raging pandemic and urged the State government to reconsider their decision to transfer him.
