Coronavirus in Mumbai: Number of BEST cases double in 10 days, total reaches 208 on Monday

Mumbai: With the spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai, the number of Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking employees being tested positive, has also increased.

On Sunday, the total number of cases it had were 200, going up by eight more on Monday. 

The number of positive cases in the undertaking touched the 100-mark on May 15; however, within ten days, this number has little more than doubled, with eight staffers having succumbed to the disease so far. But on the brighter side, with the total number of discharged patients being 104, the recovery rate of its staffers has touched the 50 per cent mark.  

"The number of cases in entire Mumbai has spiked but compared to other emergency service providers, the situation is much better in BEST," said its chief medical officer, Dr Anil Kumar Singhal.

Dr Singhal informed, among the staffers undergoing treatment, close to 60 per cent of the patients are asymptomatic and will be soon discharged, once they complete their quarantine period. 

"Just like the number of cases, the recovery rate is also increasing. With 104 patients discharged and 208 total cases, the recovery rate stands at 50 per cent now. The recovery rate will increase with time, as most of the patients are asymptomatic and will be released soon," added the doctor. 

Meanwhile, as the number of cases are rising, there is a dearth of beds in government hospitals. BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya has written to the administration, demanding the reservation of beds for its employees at some private hospitals. 

"BEST is providing transport service to the staff of a number of hospitals in the city. However, there is a dearth of beds in a government hospitals and this problem will increase as the number of cases are rising rapidly," said Ganacharya

"Hence, I have requested the management to reserve some beds for our employees so that there is no rush at the last moment. We are providing emergency service, so our employees can at least expect this much from the management," he added.