Comments
With 65,77,872 total Covid-19 affected patients and 1,39,542 total deaths ( as of October 10, 2021) Maharashtra is one of the worst Covid-19 affected States in India.
Fighting with the pandemic the State has augmented the Covid-19 infrastructure in a big way, as per the data released by the Maharashtra government.
From 214 hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients in March 2020 to 6,488 hospitals in October 2021, Maharashtra augmented infrastructure to tackle Covid-19 and has added 1,26,404 oxygen beds during this period to the existing 2,829 oxygen beds.
Also read: The daily dose: October 13, 2021
On March 9, 2020, the first Covid-19 patient was detected in Maharashtra. The State had 11,380 isolation beds and 3,209 ICU beds during this period. Today, the State has 4,40,550 isolation beds and 37,449 ICU beds. The rapid programme to increase oxygen beds has resulted in the availability of 1,29,233 oxygen beds. From 1,042 ventilators in 2020 to 14,580 ventilators today, Maharashtra has also increased the number of labs from 3 to 624.
The State government’s data report on the Covid-19 infrastructure states that Maharashtra has got sanction for 548 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants by the Centre for installation in public health facilities. Out of the sanctioned PSA plants, 110 are ready while work on others is in progress. Maharashtra has 17,869 jumbo cylinders, 16,653 B type cylinders and 424 dura cylinders.
Maintaining the infrastructure
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray recently said even as the second Covid-19 wave seems to be receding the State government was maintaining the health infrastructure to face the third wave.
Thackeray said, “It is said that the (second) wave has receded. This is the experience. We pray that there should not be a third wave. But prayers should be supported with efforts. But what should we do if the third wave hits the State? The government is spending on maintaining the infrastructure built during the last one-and-a-half year to avoid last-minute chaos.”
Also read: C ovid-19 vaccination: India administers over 96 crore total doses
The State government recently opened the 1,700 bed jumbo Covid-19 centre at Kanjurmarg in Mumbai. According to government hospitals, the State is involving private hospitals to run and maintain the Covid-19 hospitals. In Mumbai, the civic body is already working on an experiment to invite private players who have experience in the medical sector to run Covid-19 centres.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.