Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner, Iqbal Singh Chahal has asked the deputy municipal commissioners of seven zones and assistant commissioners of 24 wards to check whether the private hospitals in their areas have freed up beds occupied by asymptomatic patients. Even after nine days of issuing a circular, asking hospitals to not admit walk-in COVID-19 patients without informing the local ward war room, very few beds have been made available for symptomatic patients from the line-list with the civic body. The civic chief has given them 48 hours to complete the task.

Civic sources said that the circular was issued last week based on the assumption that asymptomatic patients have occupied more than 50 per cent of the beds in hospitals. Chahal said, "If asymptomatic patients are found during the inspection, then their admission will be cancelled immediately, so that symptomatic patients get beds."