Mumbai Makes Face Mask Mandatory at BMC Hospitals Amid Spike in COVID Cases: Check New Guidelines

Mock drills to assess the COVID preparedness of government-run hospitals across Maharashtra were carried out on Monday, officials said.

Written by: Victor Dasgupta Edited by: Victor Dasgupta

Updated: April 10, 2023, 6:59 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/mumbai-coronavirus-latest-news-face-mask-mandatory-in-bmc-hospitals-public-places-covid-guidelines-5990144/ Copy

The number of active Covid-19 cases in Kerala on Monday went up by 111 to 1,634.

Mumbai: As Mumbai witnesses concerning spike in Covid cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Monday made it mandatory to wear masks in all BMC hospitals. This decision was taken after a meeting on the issue of Covid rise. The Corporation has also asked its employees to wear masks in public places.

A nationwide mock drill to take stock of hospital preparedness was held today in both public and private facilities. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the city to review the mock drill there.

In a review meeting held on April 7, Mandaviya had urged state health ministers to visit hospitals and oversee the mock drills. He had also advised them to review the preparedness with district administrations and health officials on April 8 and 9.

In the meeting with state health ministers, and principal and additional chief secretaries held virtually, Mandaviya had stressed the need to identify emergency hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, ramping up testing and vaccination, and ensuring readiness of hospital infrastructure.

During the meeting, states and union territories were informed that currently the World Health Organisation (WHO) is closely tracking a variant of interest (VOI), XBB.1.5, and six other variants are under monitoring (BQ.1, BA.2.75, CH.1.1, XBB, XBF and XBB.1.16), a health ministry statement had said.

COVID-19 Surge: Maharashtra Holds Mock Drills in State-run Hospitals

Mock drills to assess the COVID preparedness of government-run hospitals across Maharashtra were carried out on Monday, officials said. The mock drills, which will also continue on Tuesday, were being conducted after the Union government recently asked states to review the preparedness of the health infrastructure amid a rise in COVID-19 cases across the country over the past few days.

At Mumbai’s JJ Hospital, among the biggest medical facilities in the state, one mock drill was held at the OPD and another in the wards, during which medicine stock, X-ray machinery, oxygen supply and personnel deployment etc were checked, an official said.

Incidentally, at COVID-19 review meeting chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on April 7, it was observed that Maharashtra was among the three states with 10 or more districts having positivity rate (cases per 100 tests) of more than 10 per cent.