Private, military hospitals to be taken over as Maharashtra runs out of ICU beds

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, May 6

The Maharashtra government has sought to take over hospitals owned by private organisations and the military as cities like Mumbai and Pune run out of ICU beds for Covid patients.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in a statement here today said the state government had asked the Army, Navy, ports, Railways and other Central organisations in the state to provide ICU beds for Covid patients. In Mumbai, local ward officers have been given powers to take over hospitals and nursing homes in the private sector to put up ICU beds.

More than 25,000 doctors, who operate as private practitioners in Mumbai, have also been asked to sign up to treat Covid patients or risk having their licenses cancelled. “The number of patients testing positive for the virus has increased as we have increased the number of tests. The number of patients who are being cured of the disease has also gone up,” Thackeray said in a statement. The CM said the Central government expects the number of patients to rise in May and hence the state government wanted to be ready with the maximum number of ICU beds for Covid patients.

He added that the state government had already set up huge facilities for treating patients affected by the pandemic at Nehru Science Centre, Mahalaxmi racecourse, Nehuru Planetarium, Bombay Exhibition Centre, MMRDA grounds at Bandra-Kurla Complex and other places. However, the number of patients is likely to increase as people are likely to return to Maharashtra, Thackeray added.