COVID-19: Mumbai hospitals conduct mock drill to check health infrastructure preparedness

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Hospitals in Mumbai have begun carrying out mock drills on Tuesday to check the preparedness of health facilities to handle any spike in COVID-19 cases, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said.

In the wake of a spurt in COVID-19 cases in some countries like China, Japan, Brazil, and South Korea, the Union government has issued guidelines, asking the hospitals to conduct mock exercises across the country.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said all state health ministers will take part at their level in the mock drill to be conducted throughout the country at all COVID-19 hospitals as part of the precautionary measures.

In Mumbai, the medical facilities which will conduct the mock drill include the civic-run Seven Hills Hospital (having 1,700 beds) and Kasturba Hospital (35 beds), government-run Cama Hospital (100 beds), St George Hospital (70 beds), Tata Hospital (16 beds), and Jagjivan Ram Hospital (12 beds).

The state-run J J Hospital also informed that it will conduct the mock drill.

According to civic doctors, the exercise is designed to check the readiness and response of hospitals in the wake of a rise in COVID-19 cases in some countries.

They have been asked to upload all reports collected during the drill on the Union government’s dedicated portal for COVID-19.

As per the BMC’s release issued about preparedness of the “health infrastructure” on Monday, it has identified 10 civic hospitals, three government hospitals and 21 private hospitals having 2,124 isolation beds, of which 1,523 are functional.

The hospitals have 1,613 oxygen-supported beds and of those 1,021 are functional. They have 579 ICU beds, of which 473 are functional and of the 1,079 ventilators, 954 are functional, the release said.

Out of the 3,245 doctors, 3,453 paramedics and 5,784 nurses, as many as 2,828 doctors, 3,246 paramedics and 4,029 nurses are trained in COVID-19 management, it said.

To diagnose and track COVID-19 cases, the city has a daily testing capacity of 1,35,035 at 34 hospitals and 49 laboratories, according to the release.

Also, the stock of medicines like Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, Methylprednisolone, Dexamethasone, Amphotericin B Deoxycholate and Posaconazole is available.

“The medicines will be procured and made available in future if cases increase,” the release said, adding that PPE kits, N-95 masks, nebulizers and pulse oximeters are available in adequate quantity.

The city has 859 functional oxygen concentrators and 2,933 oxygen cylinders, apart from 79 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants of 1,468 metric tons capacity and liquid medical oxygen of 268 metric tons capacity, it added.