This year, Mumbai received accolades for handling the pandemic’s second wave better than any other city in the world, and it is now preparing for a possible third wave, which experts fear would impact children.
Mumbai is constructing four massive centers with units for children afflicted with COVID-19 throughout the district, according to the city’s civic leader, and it is collaborating closely with a special task force that involves some of the country’s best pediatricians.
“How would you put a 2-year-old infant in the hospital without the mother if the child was extremely symptomatic?” Iqbal Singh Chahal, Mumbai’s Municipal Commissioner, told Reuters. “We’ve already begun to prepare for it… It is important to be quicker than the virus.”
India, after the United States, has the world’s second-largest caseload, with more than 25 million illnesses, and many of its states have been struggling with a shortage of hospital beds and oxygen and medical supplies.
Mumbai, in India’s wealthiest district, Maharashtra, initially battled with one of the country’s largest caseloads, but the virus was eventually contained thanks to tight lockdowns, widespread monitoring, and a decentralized COVID management scheme.
Mr. Chahal, who is widely credited with effectively overseeing the influx, said the four COVID treatment centers, which will have pediatric units as good as hospitals, will be able to accommodate over a thousand children and their parents.
The services, which will include intensive-care units (ICUs), will be ready by next month, way ahead of when analysts expect the third wave will arrive, according to Mr. Chahal, who added that the state, businesses, and even Bollywood celebrities will contribute financing.
Mr. Chahal said the city is spending tens of millions of dollars on the pediatric units and has already begun purchasing ventilators, scanners, and other medical devices.
In addition to these units, the government is in discussions with hospitals to expand the number of pediatric beds and intensive care units.
The pediatric task force, headed by Dr. Suhas Prabhu, expects to train about 660 pediatricians on how to deal with COVID-19-affected infants, with the aim of expanding the training to include more workers.
Mr. Prabhu believes that while the third wave does not have a significant impact on girls, cities like Mumbai cannot afford to be caught off balance.
