Mumbai's Jaslok Hospital turned in to a dedicated Covid-19 facility

The Mumbai civic body has decided to convert the Jaslok Hospital here into a dedicated facility only for COVID-19 patients in the wake of a huge spike in cases of the viral infection in the city.

According to a circular issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday, the Jaslok Hospital will no longer admit non-COVID-19 patients and instructions to this effect have been issued to the hospital's management.

It is the first prominent private hospital to be declared as a dedicated COVID-19 facility in the city since the second wave of the coronavirus here, BMC sources said.

The civic body has directed the hospital to discharge all stable patients, admitted in its non-COVID-19 wards, who do not require tertiary care.

The hospital has also been asked to transfer the non-COVID-19 patients requiring tertiary care to nearby facilities within 48 hours.

"All patients admitted for elective surgeries to be discharged by postponing the elective surgeries," reads the BMC's order.

According to the BMC, the hospital was treating COVID-19 patients with advanced critical care since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

On Wednesday, Mumbai recorded 9,925 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,44,942, while 54 more patients succumbed to the infection, according to the civic body.