Jumbo Mumbai COVID-19 hospital treats thousands
Inside Mumbai's BKC jumbo field hospital, a health worker adjusts the oxygen mask of a COVID-19 patient as doctors, nurses and specialists keep a close eye and monitor hundreds of sick people.
The pop-up mega hospital in India’s financial capital is mounted with tents and metal partitions and looks like a war room. It has a capacity of more than 2,000 beds with state-of-the-art medical facilities, including intensive care units and beds with oxygen and ventilators. It is mostly full.
Its doctors and nurses constantly monitor patients, holding the hands of some to calm them as they have problems breathing, or touching them to see how responsive they are. In some cases they help patients use a mobile phone to speak to family members, who are not allowed visit.
Health workers attend to a patient at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A nurse holds the hand of a patient in an effort to calm him as he gets breathless at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A health worker helps a patient to speak on mobile phone with her family in the high dependency unit of BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Health workers keep a watch on patients in a ward at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
India’s western Maharashtra state, home to Mumbai, is one of the country’s worst-hit states, grappling with a surge of coronavirus infections that has overwhelmed hospitals and made field facilities like BKC vital.
Maharashtra hit a peak at more than 68,000 daily cases last month, a number believed to be a massive undercount. It has since seen a decline in its declared new cases, reporting just over 37,000 infections over the latest week and 549 deaths.
Maharashtra, the country’s second-most populous state, has reported reported more than 5 million cases since the beginning of the pandemic and more than 75,000 deaths.
A health worker tries to adjust the oxygen mask of a patient at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
The BKC field hospital currently has 329 doctors and 330 nurses, said Dr. Rajesh Dere, the man in charge of running the hospital, which has treated more than 22,600 COVID-19 patients since it was set up last May to provide free treatment and medicines to patients.
“I think no hospital or very few hospitals could have managed at such a large scale,” Dere said.
A doctor speaks on the intercom with a senior consultant giving an update of a patient at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Senior consultants monitor and evaluate each patient's medical condition remotely in the war room of BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Friday, May 7, 2021.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A health worker looks over patient files at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A health worker offers tea to a patient at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Belongings of patients are seen at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A cleaner tosses aside a pair of sandals as she does her rounds at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Health workers give water to a patient at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A health worker takes a water break at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Health workers attend to a patient at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A health worker brings an oxygen cylinder on a wheelchair at the BKC jumbo field hospital, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Text from AP News story, AP PHOTOS: Jumbo Mumbai COVID-19 hospital treats thousands, by Rafiq Maqbool.
Photos by Rafiq Maqbool
