Covid-19 in Mumbai: Hospitals see 30 per cent drop in operations, fall in OPD numbers

MUMBAI: Mounting fear of coronavirus combined with visa restrictions has impacted the footfall across city hospitals in the past one week. Mid-level to major private hospitals have told TOI that planned surgeries have seen upto 30% decline, while outpatient numbers are falling every day. A few hospitals also plan to scale down operations.
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Bandra's Lilavati Hospital held a meeting on Saturday, where it was decided to scale down operations and limit work to emergency cases as far as possible. "We intend to do it for at least one-two weeks to minimize risk for all, including doctors, nurses, patients and staffers," said Ajaykumar Pande, vice-president, Lilavati. The hospital plans to erect a tent within its premises where visitors will be screened and asked to provide travel history. In addition, the hospital will be screening every entrant for higher body temperature with thermal scanners.
Almost every hospital told TOI that there have been requests for surgery cancellations or rescheduling over the last 7-10 days. George Alex, COO of Jaslok Hospital, said surgeries have declined by 15%. "There is a dip of 5-6 surgeries from the average of 27-30 procedures daily. Many have been calling our doctors and requesting to plan the surgeries later. Besides, almost in all major hospitals, 10% of the admissions are patients coming from abroad. There is a decline there too as patients cannot enter India because of the visa restrictions till April 15."
A spokesperson from Bhatia Hospital, Tardeo, said their surgical volumes have dropped by 30% Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sanjay Desai said he has had four cancellations in the past one week. "I haven't seen many cancellations from local patients, but those coming from abroad have. The pandemic is an evolving situation so everybody is watchful." Dr Pradeep Bhonsale, orthopaedic surgeon at Nanavati Hospital, said there has been a 10% decline in numbers. "I am operating on cases where people are in pain and want to undergo the procedure as soon as possible." Infectious disease consultant Dr Tanu Singhal cited the example of a child who needs to undergo tonsillectomy, but his mother is apprehensive fearing the child may get coronavirus from the hospital.
In the days to come, the numbers may dwindle further, said CEO of LH Hiranandani Hospital Dr Sujit Chaterjee, adding that they have stopped entry of visitors. Oncosurgeon Dr Vinay Deshmane, however, said while OPDs and certain surgical streams may see a decline, people usually don't postpone cancer surgeries or heart procedures.