The 68-year-old woman was diagnosed Covid-19 positive on June 1. (Representational)

Mumbai continues to struggle with lack of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and ventilators despite the government passing an order to take over 80 per cent beds in private hospitals. On June 10, a 68-year-old Malad resident’s family called 1916, desperate for a ventilator. They were told they will be contacted once a bed is available. That call did not come in the last three days, the family claims. The senior citizen passed away on June 11 for want of a ventilator.

The city has recorded over 55,000 Covid-19 cases, of them 28,248 remain actively infected. The latest data by BMC on June 13 showed there are only 20 ICU available out of 1,181 capacity, and 23 ventilators available out of 530 ventilator beds. There are 945 isolation beds available for patients. With around 1,500 new cases on an average, the existing capacity is expected to be filled within a few days.

Starting June 10, deceased Pravina Shah’s family claims they tried to look for a ventilator in multiple hospitals, even reaching out on Twitter to tag Health Minister Rajesh Tope and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray for help. Trident hospital in Kandivali agreed to admit her on June 10 but had no ventilator. On June 11 doctors told the family to look for a ventilator urgently. “We again called BMC helpline 1916. But they never got back to us,” said grand daughter Dhara Shah.

The 68-year-old woman was diagnosed Covid-19 positive on June 1. She was admitted in Yashasvi hospital. Within days her husband and son also tested positive. She remained in ICU for three days and after a week the hospital forcefully discharged her. “She was weak, could hardly eat or walk. But the hospital said she is fine and can recover at home. Within a few days she fell ill,” Shah said. On June 10 she was admitted in Trident hospital but the hospital had no ICU and only provided oxygen support.

With acute shortage of ICUs, BMC plans to increase 300 more ICU beds in the coming days. It is also planning to scale up to 9,000 oxygen supported beds by June end. Its existing capacity is 5,260. The BMC has also requested the central government for more ventilators.
Data shows BMC receives over 1,000 calls each day, of them 18 per cent are repeat callers. Till June 13, BMC 1916 helpline had received 71,085 calls from citizens. At least 18,700 were calls for beds.

“The issue of patients running from one hospital to another continues. If 1916 doesn’t respond with a vacant bed, people start going to different hospitals because they can’t sit at home when a patient is critical,” said MLA Rais Shaikh.