On Thursday night, the last person in quarantine at Marol’s SevenHills Hospital — an 80-year-old man from Lucknow — was shifted to a local hotel. The hospital is now on its way to becoming the biggest isolation facility for COVID-19 positive patients in the country, with 47 patients already admitted.
By Saturday, authorities plan to activate 200 new isolation beds to take the patient load from Kasturba Hospital and other isolation facilities that are full.
On Friday, a 28-year-old woman was the first COVID-19 patient to be discharged after recovery from the hospital. The woman had no travel history, but was a contact of a positive patient.
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Dr. Mohan Joshi, the dean of Sion Hospital who is currently in charge of SevenHills, said that everyone quarantined at the hospital has either been shifted to hotels and Public Works Department (PWD) guest houses or has gone home. Those who tested positive were sent to Kasturba Hospital.
Since March 14, when the defunct hospital was reopened as a quarantine facility, 1,283 people have been quarantined at SevenHills. Of these, 371 were category B patients (those with no symptoms but having co-morbid conditions or who are senior citizens) and their swabs were collected for testing. Doctors said that only three of them tested positive.
As many as 893 were classified as Category C (those with no symptoms or high risk factors) and were counselled and sent for home quarantine. However, those who lived outside Mumbai continued with their quarantine period at SevenHills. “Gradually, we have shifted those under quarantine to PWD guest houses and a nearby hotel. Those who didn’t mind paying have been shifted to other city hotels,” said a doctor posted at SevenHills Hospital.
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He said that many who completed their quarantine period have been sent to their hometowns in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka in ambulances. “Those who are still in the city are from Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and other States,” he said.
Three patients critical
Of the 47 positive patients admitted to SevenHills, three are in a critical condition because of their underlying ailments. The patients, aged 68, 58 and 51 respectively, are on ventilator support. Another senior citizen admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) is not on ventilator.
The HN Reliance Foundation Hospital has taken charge of the ICU and 25 isolation beds. It will soon add another 200 isolation beds at SevenHills. The treatment at the isolation facility is being offered free of cost.
Taj hosts healthcare workers
The Taj Group of Hotels has opened its rooms to healthcare workers who are on COVID-19 duty. “Some of the staff from SevenHills Hospital has been accommodated at Taj Santacruz. The accommodation has been given to those who have to travel for more than 30 minutes to reach the hospital,” Dr. Mohan Joshi, the dean of Sion Hospital who is currently in charge of SevenHills, said.
Doctors from other civic hospitals have been accommodated at the Taj hotels in Bandra and Cuffe Parade.
BMC designates five hospitals for COVID-19
The BMC has designated five city hospitals —Kasturba, St. George, SevenHills, Nanavati and Saifee — as dedicated hospitals for COVID-19 patients and senior citizens or patients with co-morbidities only. Those patients who are under 60 and asymptomatic will be sent to designated isolation centres, where municipal doctors and paramedics will treat them. The idea is to free up as many beds as possible for COVID-19 symptomatic patients and those most vulnerable
(With inputs from Tanvi Deshpande)