Coronavirus Outbreak: Why we should be careful for at least 14 days

The city will soon have two more laboratories where samples for Coronavirus will be tested midday had reported that a testing facility will be started at KEM Hospital by next week Currently testing of samples is only on at Kasturba Hospital State health minister Rajesh Tope announced two more testing facilities in the city on SundayWith these labs at Haffkine Institute in Parel and at JJ Hospital in Byculla soon the number of testing facilities for Coronavirus in Mumbai will go up to fourWhile there were no new positive cases in the city on Sunday one new case each was reported in Aurangabad and Pune taking Maharashtras count to 33 positive casesState health minister Rajesh Tope met patients at Kasturba Hospital and assured them that they will have access to Internet connection TV newspapers and hygienic food PicAshish RajeCivic officials said that 43 samples were tested at Kasturba Hospital and they were all negative Currently 93 people are admitted to Kasturba Hospital We have admitted 458 patients since January 18 and 380 of them have tested negative The remaining tests are in process said Dr Daksha Shah deputy executive health officer of the civic health departmentKasturba Hospital can accommodate 100 people and after it is filled suspected patients will be admitted at four municipal hospitals where arrangements have been madeTwo more cases in stateThe only positive case reported on Sunday was a 59yearold woman in Aurangabad who had travelled to Russia and Kazakhastan State health officials said that she has been admitted to a hospital The patient from PimpriChinchwad Pune is a 31yearold man who had travelled to Japan and DubaiHaffkine and JJState Health Minister Rajesh Tope visited the facilities for patients for Coronavirus at SevenHills Hospital and Kasturba Hospital on Sunday He announced that two more testing facilities for Coronavirus will be set up in the city Tope stated that samples will be tested at the Haffkine Institute at Parel and at JJ Hospital in Byculla in the next 1520 days He also said that new equipment will be set up at Kasturba Hospital to increase the capacity to testing 350 samples a dayTope also met patients at Kasturba Hospital and assured them that they will have access to Internet connection TV newspapers and hygienic food When asked about the growing number of cases in the city Tope attributed the reason to the group that had travelled to Dubai many of whom tested positivePreventive stepsEmphasising the need to avoid crowded places Dr Shah said that the next two weeks are crucial in arresting the spread of the disease We are in stage II of an epidemic which means local transmission to people who are in close contact with a patient We have to take preventive steps at least for the next 14 days which is why places like malls theatres have been shut down she saidMostly older patientsOn the nine positive patients admitted at Kasturba Hospital two women and seven men Dr Shah said Six patients are over the age of 60 and the remaining three patients are between 3040 years All the patients who are above 60 years have comorbid conditions like diabetes and hypertension She added that they are all in a stable condition and 8 out of the 9 patients have a history of travel Dr Shah also added that seven more suspected Coronavirus patients were admitted to SevenHills hospital taking the total there to 10 BMC teams comprising medical and paramedical staff continued to spread awareness about the precautions against Coronavirus on Sunday Around 10000 housing societies have been visited by 1067 teams of medical officers They have distributed posters about Coronavirus conducted meetings with the societys chairman or secretary and inquired about people who have travelled abroad in the past 14 days Dr Shah saidMore than 500 people in the city who came in contact with someone who tested positive have been placed in selfquarantine at home and the civic body is monitoring themCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates