Mumbai: Dismantling of four jumbo Covid hospitals put on hold – ET HealthWorld

MUMBAI: The civic administration has temporarily stopped dismantling four jumbo field hospitals after a new study by an IIT has predicted a fourth Covid wave in the June-July period.

“We have sought the advice of the state Covid task force on whether to dismantle these jumbo hospitals or keep them in reserve so that they can be recommissioned when needed,” said BMC additional commissioner Suresh Kakani.

Last week, the BMC started dismantling four jumbo or field hospitals located in Dahisar, Goregaon, Malad and Kanjurmarg while keeping other such hospitals, situated in Byculla, Worli and BKC , working. All Covid care centres (CCC1) are in the process of being shut down.

This was prompted by the fact that daily admissions have drastically dropped; more than 85% of the Omicron-Covid cases are asymptomatic or mild.

At the moment, less than 2% of the 35,000-plus Covid beds in the city are occupied, and the daily admissions are around 10.

“When a reputed institution such as IIT Kanpur comes up with a date for the fourth wave, we felt we couldn’t ignore it. We hence have asked the task force for its advice,” Kakani said.

The IIT Kanpur study has, however, come in for criticism because of the mathematical model it used to arrive at the dates. “The study extrapolated data from an African country that has one-tenth the population density of India. Moreover, we have 90% vaccination in many pockets,” said a doctor with a public hospital.

Dr Shashank Joshi, who is a member of the state government Covid-19 task force, said that future Covid waves would be limited to certain geographies. “A devastating wave like the second Delta wave is unlikely now,’’ he added.