BMC moves Covid centre patients to hospitals, Due to Cyclone Tauktae

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday evening dug a hole in the Karnataka and Maharashtra coasts to move patients from Covid centers to government hospitals in the city as the cyclone Tauktae heads north. As of evening, 603 Covid-19 patients had been evacuated from three jumbo facilities in the city. 

This includes 243 from BKC, 184 from Dahisar and 176 from Mulund. Some were discharged and the rest were admitted to hospitals run by the state government and the civil body.  According to the India Meteorological Department's bulletin at 10 pm, Tauktae was located 220 km south-southwest of Mumbai at 8.30 pm, moving north-northwest at a speed of 19 km per hour.

Typhoon Tauktae, which has already been classified as a severe cyclone, is expected to intensify in the next 24 hours and reach the Gujarat coast in the evening of May 17, IMD said.  Mumbai was not expected to be severely affected by the storm. Through the Sundays, I saw many doctors and medical staff from PPE moving in and out of the BKC Covid Center. Of the 243 patients, 198 were discharged without problems. 

The rest were discharged.  This is a temporary measure that the hurricane has in mind.  Within a day or two, the government will decide to transfer the patients to the BKC Covid Care Center.  No patients were left at the Covid Care Center until Sunday night, said BKC Jumbo Center in-charge Dr.  Rajesh Dere said. 

Patients in critical condition will now be treated at the same hospital and will not be transferred to jumbo centers, which will affect their health, state health officials said. Relatives of patients eagerly waiting outside the centre were notified by phone or text message if the patient was transferred. No need to worry.  

We made sure that every ambulance had enough oxygen and medical staff,”said a doctor involved in the procedure.  A convoy of ambulances was seen parked outside the centre.  Police in the area and a platoon of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) stood on the other side of the road. Akash Shukla, a 30 - year - old engineer, said his mother Pushpa, 55, was admitted to the BKC Covid Center on May 1. I'm waiting for them to let me know where she's going.  She is in the ICU.  They said they would send us a message when the shifting was complete. 

We are not allowed to travel with our patient, Shukla said another anxious man with his father said: My 61-year-old mother is being transferred to Seven Hills Hospital.  As the ambulance pulled out, the two were seen following the vehicle on a scooter.  They informed me that my brother had been transferred to St. George's Hospital at 1.30am on Sunday.