COVID-19 pandemic | Mumbai on the brink of public health crisis with shortage of doctors, no ICU beds

Mumbai is tethering on the edge of a public health crisis as COVID-19 cases in the city continue to increase by 400 per day on an average while healthcare professionals and medical infrastructure struggle to keep up, say experts.

The city has exhausted its intensive care unit (ICU) beds in private and public hospitals, patients are forced to wait overnight on roads before arrangements are made, and facilities running with shortage of almost 400 doctors and nurses, The Economic Times reported.

The situation is alarming as the city with a population of two crore is close to exhausting its regular hospital beds. It has already exhausted ICU beds and is functioning short of optimal number of medical professionals. The ever-increasing coronavirus cases and the shortage of doctors have also severely affected the treatment of non-COVID related patients, it noted.

As per the report till May 1, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run facilities at RN Cooper Hospital, KEM Hospital and Kasturba Hospital had just 11, 6 and 12 COVID-19 beds respectively.

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For private facilities, till May 1, PD Hinduja Hospital had 42 beds (all occupied), Wockhardt and Lilavati Hospitals had only 1 bed each, while Seven Hills Reliance had 42 beds and Sushrusha had 73 COVID-19 beds.

Officials told the paper that steps were being taken by the BMC and Maharashtra state government, but adding more beds would only be a “Band-Aid”. “We don’t have enough medical personnel, doctors, nurses for the new patients coming in,” they said, adding that at least 400 more medical personnel – doctors, nurses and others, are required.