Pune authorities ramp up bed capacity as coronavirus cases continue to rise

The civic administration in Pune

city on Thursday said it is constantly working to increase the bed capacity for COVID-19 patients to ensure that there is no paucity.

Speaking to reporters, Pune municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar said the civic body currently has around 7,500 beds where COVID-19 patients are undergoing treatments.

"On March 21, we had 3,500 beds, of which 2,200 were equipped with oxygen and 290 were ventilator beds. At present, we have 7,500 beds, of which 4,800 are equipped with oxygen and 550 are ventilator beds," he said.

The civic body is working towards increasing the bed capacity and plans to have 8,300 beds by next week, the official said.

The Indian Army has agreed to reserve 40 beds, including 20 ventilator ones, at one of its hospitals, where treatment of infected patients is being started, the civic chief said.

The PMC is working on increasing vaccination, the number of beds and enforcing COVID-19-appropriate behaviour among people, he said.

"We have so far vaccinated over 5 lakh people in the city limits. As the Centre has permitted vaccination at private and public offices with over 100 employees, we held a meeting with stakeholders and two email addresses have been created for interested firms to contact us for inoculating their staffers," he said.

To enable vaccination at workplaces, the civic body has formed 15 teams of doctors and nurses, Kumar said.

Apart from this, 60 teams have been formed to enforce COVID-19-appropriate behaviour in the city, he added.

When asked about the shortage of remdesivir injection, the civic chief admitted that there were some issues in the supply of the medicine.

"But according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 2,000 vials will be delivered today," he said.