Top doctor says COVID-19 situation in Mumbai is 'grim'
What's the story
The coronavirus situation at the ground level in Mumbai is grim, a top doctor at the KEM Hospital, one of the city's largest medical facilities, has warned. He said so after the city reported 10,030 fresh cases and 31 deaths in the past 24-hour period amid a dreaded second wave of infections across India. Here are more details on this.
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'Situation at ground level is very grim'
"The situation at the ground level is very grim. The number of cases has been increasing for the last, almost four weeks," Dr. Hemant Deshmukh, Dean of the KEM Hospital, told NDTV. Hospitals in the city have reported a 300% spike in admissions over the last couple of months. KEM Hospital alone has 228 COVID-19 patients currently admitted, the news channel reported.
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Several hospitals facing shortage of oxygen cylinders
Furthermore, several hospitals across Maharashtra have been facing a shortage of oxygen cylinders, which are required to treat critical COVID-19 patients. Dr. Deshmukh informed that there is an immediate need for oxygen supply as well as medication. "What we require right now is enough supply of oxygen as well as medications to treat these patients who are being wheeled in," he said.
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Younger people more vulnerable in ongoing wave
Notably, in the current wave of the pandemic, younger people seem to be more vulnerable to the fatal virus, especially in cities. "Patients who are coming right now are from the age group of 35 to 55, more than any other age group. Though (people) under 35 are also getting affected, children are getting affected," Dr. Deshmukh was quoted as saying.
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Maharashtra CM urges Centre to widen vaccination drive
In fact, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow people aged above 25 years to receive coronavirus vaccine doses. Earlier, his counterpart in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, had also called for age restrictions to be removed from the ongoing vaccination drive. He also termed the central government's eligibility rules for vaccination as "too restrictive."
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Maharashtra running out of COVID-19 vaccine stocks
Today, Maharashtra's Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the state may run out of COVID-19 vaccine doses in three days, adding they have requested the Centre to send more vaccines. "We have asked for 40 lakh more vaccine doses per week," he told reporters.
Situation
India sees massive surge in coronavirus cases
Maharashtra, India's worst-hit state in the outbreak, reported 55,469 infections and 297 fatalities yesterday. Worryingly, the country has been witnessing a massive surge in daily new COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks. On Tuesday, India logged more than 1.1 lakh fresh infections, the biggest single-day spike since the pandemic began, taking the nationwide tally to over 1.28 crore.