Mumbai is converting several of its iconic structures into quarantine facilities as it races to prepare for a predicted peaking of infections this month.
With some projections suggesting the number of cases in Mumbai will touch 75,000 by the end of May, civic authorities are working overtime to add to the number of beds. There are around 7,500 hospital beds in the city. Another 5,000 have been identified in private hospitals. According to rough estimates, there are 750 ICU beds in Mumbai.
As Mumbai races against time, here's some of the spots authorities have transformed in the fight against coronavirus.
- Bandra Kurla Complex
Authorities are building a 1,000-bed hospital in this area. Construction for the hospital began on March 27 and the hospital will have a pathology lab with facilities for blood tests, an ECG machine,
and rooms for doctors and nurses.
It will be housed in a waterproof ‘German tent’ (a hangar-like structure) spanning 235 m in length and 40 m in width.
- Bombay Exhibition Centre (NESCO Ground)
A venue for conventions, exhibitions and trade fairs in one of Mumbai’s suburbs, NESCO Grounds will sleep 1,200 asymptomatic patients from Mumbai’s slums.
- Mahalaxmi Racecourse
Located in south Mumbai, the parking lot of this institution, which was built in 1883, has been transformed into a 300-bed isolation center using tent hanger structures and vast canopies typically
constructed to maintain aircraft.
- Catholic Gymkhana
As per a report, the BMC is set to take over all the six clubs at Marine Drive -- Police, Catholic, Grand Medical, Islam and Parsi Gymkhana.
- Nehru Science Centre and Nehru Planetarium
While the Nehru Science Centre been converted into an isolation facility of 100 beds for slum dwellers, Mumbai’s beloved planetarium plans to have 300 beds that will house asymptomatic patients.
- National Sports Club of India
This auditorium situated in south Mumbai's Worli area, which has held TEDX talks, Broadway-like musicals and music concerts, is now a 600-bed quarantine plus observation facility with 30
Intensive Care Unit portable beds.
WATCH: NSCI dome in Worli turns into isolation facility
