Maharashtra may put aside 80 per cent beds of all private and public-run hospitals
The state-appointed task force on Covid-19 has asked the govt to order 80 per cent of the beds in both private and public hospitals in Mumbai for coronavirus patients, indicating the town has entered the foremost critical a part of its fight against the virus.
In a recommendation made to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Dr Sanjay Oak-led task force said on the brink of 20,000 people will need hospitalisation within the next week approximately because the city hits its peak. With the general public hospitals already stretched to capacity, the state will then haven't any option but to rest on private hospitals for help.
The city has 30,000 beds across its private and public hospitals capable of providing critical care. Nearly 22,000 of those will now be marked for Covid-19 patients. the sole decision that is still to be made at the govt level is – whether to takeover hospitals by issuing notices under the Disaster Management Act and therefore the infectious disease Act or work with private hospitals to satisfy the demand during a spirit of collaboration and cooperation. Either way, a choice is going to be taken within the next two days.
Once the govt has made up its mind on what path it wants to adopt – takeover or hash out -- hospitals are going to be allowed to stay beds just for patients in need of maternity care, cancer treatment, dialysis, serious heart ailments, strokes and trauma care (accidents).

All other treatments and procedures are going to be placed on hold and beds made available for Covid-19 cases.
The task force has recommended that the additional beds be acquired for a minimum of six weeks.
Dr Oak on Thursday confirmed that the task force has recommended setting aside a bulk of the beds with the city’s private and public hospitals for Covid-19 patients.

NMMC workers to urge weekly supply of protective gear
The over 6,000 essential service workers of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation will get a weekly supply of protective equipment, and a representative of the union will certify the handover of the equipment.
“On every Monday at 10 am the representative of the Corporation, the representative of the petitioner Union and therefore therefore the representative of the contractor shall meet at the top Office of the Corporation and the necessary protective material to be employed by the members of the Union for the whole week shall be handed over to the representative of the Union, that a receipt is going to be issued by the representative of the petitioner Union,” Bombay supreme court Justice SJ Kathawalla said in an order on Thursday, noting that it had been being passed with the consent of both the edges.
The court observed that both the edges had leveled allegations against one another, and since quite 200 contractors were involved, it had been impossible for the court to “enter into an inquiry and determine on which side is speaking the truth”. However, watching the urgency of the difficulty, the court passed the order mentioned earlier.
While the union, Samaj Samata Kamgaar Sangh, represented by Advocate Bhavesh Parmar and firm Gravitas Legal, alleged that none of the over 6,000 essential service workers barring a really few had received any protective equipment quite once, the NMMC denied everything and said there was no such problem.
The union skilled NMMC’s affidavit by leveling further allegations of fudging records/ documents to point out that equipment – disposable masks, reusable masks, hand-gloves, and private protective equipment – were being supplied. It added that documents produced by NMMC pertained to only one contractor, who was liable for just 600 workers, out of the entire of 6,227.
The court goes to still hear the petition on other points like extending the advantage of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kamgar package insurance Scheme for doctors fighting Covid-19 and therefore the payment of special allowance of Rs 300 per day to the contract workers.

BEST union asks employees to remain home from May 18
The BEST Sanyukt Kaamgar Kruti Samiti (BSKKS), which incorporates all BEST workers unions, has asked all its members to remain home from May 18. The announcement followed the death of the sixth Covid-19 positive Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport employee on Wednesday.

The undertaking has reported an increase within the number of cases from 36 on May 4 to 98 on May 14. Shashank Rao, who heads the umbrella group of unions said the choice was taken after considering the rising number of deaths and Covid-19 cases within the undertaking.

The decision includes the participation of employees operating buses and repairing power cables. BEST buses are the sole sort of conveyance operating within the city. “We want all BEST employees to remain home and self-isolate from Monday,” Rao said. “This is due to the rising deaths and COVID-19 positive cases within the undertaking. Also, the staff is tired as they need to be working day and night during the lockdown.”
The union has demanded an insurance cover of Rs 1 crore for every of the simplest employees and their families. it's also demanded a separate hospital for BEST employees being treated for COVID-19. The union said the workers haven't been given an adequate supply of hand sanitizers, gloves and masks. The BSKKS has demanded that employees be given PPE kits also.
Meanwhile, the simplest administration has said its ‘COVID Rapid Action Team’ has actively identified and monitored COVID-19 cases which they need be calling its 36,000 employees and inquiring about their health. a politician said a team is shipped to require anyone who needs medical attention to the closest hospital. “The recovery rate of our staff from Covid-19 has improved to 38 per cent. It once stood at 19 percent. As on May 14, 38 patients got discharged,” said Dr A Singal, chief medic, BEST Undertaking.
On May 13, an employee from the BEST’s transport wing died while being treated for the virus. A senior BEST official said the employee’s children contacted his colleagues once they faced difficulty in trying to urge him hospitalized. The colleagues arranged for him to be admitted at Shatabdi Hospital