In the over six months since COVID-19 hit Mumbai, the ride has certainly not been a smooth one for anyone. For patients and doctors already battling cancer, the fight for survival achieved a host of new dimensions. Armed with its expertise, the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) in Parel became the obvious choice to fight the two Cs. TMH's doctors have been managing three isolation centres where 1,080 COVID cancer patients have been treated in the pandemic.

TMH came across its first COVID-19 cancer patient towards the end of March. Dr Rajendra Badwe, director, Tata Memorial Centre said that the hospital stepped in to treat all COVID cancer patients and set up an isolation centre at the hospital, one at NSCI Dome (with 70 isolation beds) and another at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) with 24 beds each for isolation and quarantine. Two floors at TMH have been converted into isolation wings with 90 beds, and one floor has been set aside for quarantine.