In order to fill the jumbo COVID-19 centres across the city, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has now planned to shift all the COVID-19 patients from hospitals to jumbo facilities once they turn asymptomatic. This comes after most of the jumbo facilities have more than 40 per cent of beds vacant which need to be utilised.
According to the BMC Dashboard, there are 19,974 active COVID-19 patients in Mumbai, of which 12,643 are asymptomatic and 6,204 patients are symptomatic, while only 1,127 are critical.
BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said shifting asymptomatic patients will help change the ambience which might contribute to faster recovery and mental stability during treatment. “It is learnt that most of the Covid positive patients become asymptomatic after 10 days of their admission. This means they cannot spread infection to anyone. So we decided to shift them to jumbo facilities which help them cope up with their mental health by doing various activities at these centres,” he said.
Health experts said the incubation period of the virus is the time between the exposure and the display of symptoms. The incubation period ranges from 1 to 12.5 days (with median estimates of 5 to 6 days), but can be as long as 14 days. But after 10 days the virulence of the virus decreased so chances of transmitting are very less. “It is a good move by the civic body as most of the patients suffer from depression and other illnesses if they are in the hospital for a longer period,” he said.
City-based psychiatrist said the increasing number of cases are creating a terror among people - despite the fatigue that seems to have crept in - people are worried about their health. “There is some trauma experienced by patients because sometimes they see critical patients dying in front of them in a ward set-up.So that causes them to have some sleep and appetite disturbances. So, these initiatives will be very helpful to change the environment of a patient due to which they will be able to divert their mind,” she said.
