10 of family in Andheri test positive, split in two private hospitals

Sumitra Debroy & Richa Pinto | TNN | Updated: Apr 6, 2020, 06:34 IST

SevenHills Hospital

MUMBAI: Ten members of an Andheri family who tested positive for coronavirus over two days struggled to find beds in a single private hospital, indicative of what many could face as cases continue to rise in the city. After making dozens of calls to private hospitals across the city, the family managed to find beds in different hospitals. Half of them are now admitted to SevenHills, Marol, while the others to Nanavati Hospital at Vile Parle.
The city on Sunday recorded 103 new cases, one of the highest single-day spikes. Till April 2 when the city had a little over 238 cases, around 42% of the city's 310 private beds were occupied.
Civic officials insisted that there was no shortage as nearly 62% of BMC's public isolation beds were available until two days ago. Overall, the civic body claims 50% of the isolation beds are available, though doctors say they are fast filling up. Between Friday and Sunday, the city has added 200 cases to its tally.
Speaking to TOI, the 21-year-old Andheri resident recalled their ordeal. "SevenHills didn't have enough to accommodate all of us, though they did admit six of our family members," she said, adding among those positive are three of her grandparents. "After the reports came late at night, the BMC told us to evacuate the housing society. Since we didn't want to go to a public hospital, we started calling private ones," she said.
"We called all major private hospitals, including the ones in south Mumbai. Everybody said they didn't have beds to accommodate an entire family," she said, adding the BMC officials also did their best to help them locate beds.
The family had attended a wedding in Surat and that could have been the likely source of the infection.
Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said many isolation beds were available in the public sector and more are likely to be opened up.
Meanwhile, in a video message released on Sunday, MLA and corporator Rais Shaikh has alleged owing to lack of coordination between the state government and BMC authorities, the exact number of Covid-19 patients is not being reported.
"A 52-year-old has died at Sankli Street in my ward. The local ward office had no record that it was a Covid-19 case till I intervened by talking to the health authorities in the state government who confirmed it was a Covid-19 death. In another case, 10 persons from the same family at a chawl in Morland Road have tested positive for coronavirus. Yet, the family has not been placed under isolation and neither have their contacts been traced," said Shaikh.