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THE HINDU MUMBAI

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 3EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

MUMBAI LOCAL

15 Dubai passengers fl��eefrom airport, tracedMUMBAI

Fifteen passengers, whowere given ‘home quarantine’stamp on hands after theirarrival in Mumbai from Dubaion Sunday, fled from theairport without informing theauthorities, but were laterfound outside a railwaystation, police said. Thepassengers were planning goto Punjab by train. PTI

IN BRIEF

Four private laboratories —Thyrocare, Suburban Diag-nostics, Metropolis Health-care Ltd. and HN RelianceFoundation Hospital — havereceived approval from theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) to carry outCOVID-19 tests. At least 16more laboratories are in thepipeline for approval andmore names will be added tothe list within this week.

Dr. Sujata Baweja, head ofmicrobiology, Sion hospital,who is coordinating with theprivate labs said at least 20had applied for approval.“The approvals are in theprocess as the government islooking at scaling up thetesting facilities. Within thisweek a majority of them willget the approval and willstart testing,” she said.

Dr. Baweja said all labora-tories will use their own kits.The ICMR has said the priceof the test cannot exceed₹��4,500 and urged privateplayers to off��er free or subsi-dised testing.

Earlier, the State govern-ment had on Saturday is-sued an advisory to privatehospitals asking them topostpone non-emergencyservices and prepare isola-tion wards in view of the out-break of the virus.

(With inputs from PTI)

16 more in pipeline; names to be added within the weekJyoti ShelarMumbai

Four pvt. labs get approvalto carry out COVID-19 tests

With the Centre announcingsuspension of suburbantrains and BrihanmumbaiElectric Supply and Tran-sport (BEST) Undertakingbuses shutting down, severalmunicipal employees were ina fi��x about how they wouldget to work on Monday.

The civic body providesessential services such as wa-ter supply, sewage disposal,solid waste management,municipal hospitals, pestcontrol offi��cers and the fi��rebrigade to citizens. Munici-pal unions said most em-ployees come from far awaysuburbs such as Panvel,Ulwe, Badlapur and Virar.They said Saturday’s deci-sion to allow trains to runwith only these employeeson board was better than acomplete ban.

Milind Ranade, secretaryof Kachra Vahtuk ShramikSangh said, “Most conser-vancy workers live in the far-thest corners of the city andhave to report at their motorloading chowkies. We haveno idea how they will get towork.”

However, their worries

were put to rest by the Bri-hanmumbai Municipal Cor-porations’s announcementthat BEST and State tran-sport buses will now be usedto ferry these municipal em-ployees.

A joint action plan hasbeen created to ferry munici-pal employees, police per-sonnel and bank employees.As per this plan, Maharash-tra State Road Transport Cor-poration (MSRTC) buses willferry those living outsidemunicipal limits up to a cer-

tain point within municipallimit. For example, em-ployees living in Asangaon,Badlapur, Kalyan will bedropped at Thane station.From this point, the em-ployees can take a BEST bus,which will drop them at theirworkplace. The MSRTC hasset aside 540 buses for this.

Private hospital staff��,pharmacy employees, groc-ery shop staff��ers, and tele-phone and electricity com-pany staff��ers can also availthis service.

BMC announces special busesfor municipal employeesClosure of locals, BEST had essential service providers worriedTanvi DeshpandeMumbai

Deserted: A lone passenger on a platform at ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj Terminus on Sunday. * PRASHANT NAKWE

The Brihanmumbai Munici-pal Corporation (BMC) willbe giving at-home COVID-19testing services so as to easethe load on Kasturba Hospi-tal, where people with fl��u-like symptoms are queuingup by the dozen.

If a doctor has advised apatient to undergo testing,the BMC or affi��liated privatehospitals will collect thesample from the patient’shome.

Kasturba Hospital is thecity’s only infectious diseas-es public hospital. As on Fri-day, it had received 3,682 pe-ople in the COVID-19outpatient department. Priv-ate practitioners refer 60%of the patients to the hospitalwithout taking their travelhistory. Often, the patientscome to get themselves test-ed. Doctors on the front linesay such referrals put peopleat unnecessary risk.

Municipal Commissioner

Praveen Pardeshi said theBMC will soon start an at-home testing facility.

“All private laboratoriesor those belonging to hospi-tals that have been regis-tered with NIV, Pune, will setup a van. We are setting up adedicated helpline,” he said.If a person feels he or she hasCOVID-19 symptoms, theyneed to talk to the team ofdoctors on the helpline andif the doctors feel their case

is justifi��ed, a team of munici-pal doctors or those whohave extended support tothe BMC will collect a swab,he said. “If the sample testspositive, the patient will bemoved to an isolationcentre.”

The BMC will enlist thehelp of the 40 doctors re-leased from airport duty,now that no internationalfl��ights are landing in the city.

“As of today, 800 people

are queuing up outside Kas-turba Hospital while theyhave 100 COVID-19 patientsto look after,’ Mr. Pardeshisaid. In Italy, he said, thedoctors were also infectedand their hospital systemcollapsed. “When patientscome to a hospital, everyoneis exposed. Instead, a personwearing protective equip-ment will collect the samplefrom their homes.”

This, he said, will reducethe load on Kasturba andprevent people from com-muting to the hospital. Thefacility will also be used forcollecting swab samples ofthose in home quarantine.

Cop admitted for testingMeanwhile, a police offi��cialposted on duty at KasturbaHospital was admitted forCOVID-19 testing on Sundayafter he developed throat ir-ritation. The 22-year-old hadbeen posted in the hospitalfor the last fi��ve days. His re-ports are awaited.

BMC to take testing facilities to homesCorporation aims to ease load on Kasturba, prevent further infectionsTanvi DeshpandeMumbai

Kasturba Hospital has so far received 3,682 people in itsCOVID-19 outpatient department. * PRASHANT NAKWE

The family of a 70-year-oldperson from Kalyan who wassuff��ering from breathless-ness, fever and throat pain,has alleged that he was re-fused entry by a leading priv-ate hospital as his symptomswere akin to that of CO-VID-19.

The patient’s son allegedthat his father was made tosit in their vehicle for nearlyan hour and was later takento a “safe room” near the se-curity guards’ cabin outsidethe hospital, where he wasprovided medicationthrough intravenous fl��uids.The family’s trauma did notend there. A driver of theambulance that was calledby the hospital staff�� also re-fused to ferry the senior citi-zen to a government hospi-tal. Another ambulance hadto be called in to shift thepatient.

According to the patient’s26-year-old son, the incidenttook place on March 17 at theP.D. Hinduja Hospital in Ma-him. “My father had nasalcongestion and cough. Sincehe started having diffi��cultyin breathing, we rushed himto a private hospital in Ka-lyan where the doctors saidhe could be ailing from CO-VID-19 and referred us to thegovernment-run Rukminibai

Hospital. The doctors at Ruk-minibai gave him an injec-tion and referred us to Kas-turba Hospital for theCOVID-19 test,” he said.

The senior citizen had nohistory of international tra-vel, but he had been to Ben-galuru, Mangaluru and Tiru-pati over the past one monthfor religious rituals. “Whenwe drove all the way to Kas-turba Hospital, we were toldthat he was not indicated forthe COVID-19 test as he hadno history of internationaltravel or contact with a posi-

tive patient,” the son said,adding that he then drovehis father to HindujaHospital.

“At the Hinduja Hospital,they refused to take us in. Ishowed them the medicalpaper from Kasturba Hospi-tal but they still insisted thathe could be a COVID-19 pa-tient,” he said. The patientwas eventually taken to theKEM Hospital, where thedoctors diagnosed pneumo-nia and started treatment.The family shifted him to Hi-ranandani Hospital the next

day. “He is out of the inten-sive care unit (ICU) and reco-vering well now,” the sonsaid.

The contagious novel co-ronavirus has posed a chal-lenge for all hospitals as anypositive patient walking intotheir premises could be athreat to other patients, whoalready have compromisedimmunity. Hinduja Hospitalhas been extra cautious as ithad recently admitted a 64-year-old person with a heartailment who later tested pos-itive for COVID-19. While thepatient succumbed after be-ing shifted to Kasturba Hos-pital, eight hospital staff��members who came in con-tact with the patient havesince been in isolation, whilemany others have been ad-vised home quarantine.

A Hinduja Hospital spo-kesperson said that after thedetection of a COVID-19 caseat the hospital on March 12,they had been realigningICUs and beds for the safetyof patients and their treat-ment of as per guidelines.“The patient arrived withsevere respiratory issues andneeded ICU care, which wasnot possible at that time inview of the realignment.Therefore, the patient wasattended to, stabilised andthen referred to other hospi-tal,” the spokesperson said.

Senior citizen denied hospitaladmission over virus fears Spokesperson cites realigning of ICUs and beds as reasonJyoti ShelarMumbai

Scary situation: A hoarding in the city advises citizens not topanic about the coronavirus pandemic. * PTI

Close to two months after itbegan, the Mumbai Baghprotest against the Citizen-ship Amendment Act, theNational Register of Citizensand the National PopulationRegister was temporarilysuspended on Sunday in thewake of the coronaviruscrisis.

The protest, which wasmodelled on Shaheen Baghin Delhi, started on the nightof January 26 on MorlandRoad in Mumbai Central andhas continued on a relay ba-sis since then. On Sunday,shortly after the MumbaiPolice issued orders declar-ing a lockdown in the city,senior police offi��cers held ameeting with the organisersof the protest on its 56th day.

It was decided that thestructure set up at the prot-est venue as well as thechairs placed for the conve-nience of the women would

be allowed to stand. Also,the police would not sum-mon for inquiries or botherany of the women till the cri-sis had passed. The protes-ters, too, agreed that nothingwas to be gained by puttingeach other at risk.

“We may have diff��erenceswith the government on theCAA, NRC and NPR, but weare with them in the fi��ghtagainst COVID-19. All theprotesters at Mumbai Baghare withdrawing due to thecoronavirus pandemic and

the imposition of Section 144in the State. A symbolic prot-est will continue online andthe physical protest will res-ume after the crisis is behindus,” said Rubaid Ali Bhojani,who has been part of theprotest since the beginning.

Mumbai Bagh protests suspended Women agree to restrict protest to online space; police say structure will stay

Careful agitation: Women at Mumbai Bagh maintain social distance on Sunday afternoon,before the protest was called off��. * EMMANUAL YOGINI

Gautam S. Mengle Gareema BangadMumbai

All in a day: (Clockwise from above) The Bachchan family joins theinitiative to applaud essential service workers; Marine Drive is desertedduring Janata Curfew; the lockdown leaves arriving passengers strandedat the domestic airport; police cordon off�� Western Express Highway atKandivali for vehicles coming into the city after Section 144 is imposed.

* VIJAY BATE * PRASHANT NAKWE * ARUNANGSU ROY CHOWDHURY * AADESH CHOUDHARI

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All quiet in the city that never sleeps