Focus should be on patient management, not numbers: Chahal

Hospitals' capacity to treat patients should be the main yardstick while dealing with the situation, he said. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and Nagpur Guardian Minister Nitin Raut had called Chahal and a team of expert doctors for discussing the pandemic situation in Nagpur.

Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal on Friday said that rather than getting troubled by increase in coronavirus patients, the focus should be on treatment. Hospitals' capacity to treat patients should be the main yardstick while dealing with the situation, he said.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and Nagpur Guardian Minister Nitin Raut had called Chahal and a team of expert doctors for discussing the pandemic situation in Nagpur. Chahal met top administrative, health and police officials here.

Addressing a press conference later, the Mumbai municipal commissioner said no one can tell how long the pandemic will continue, and we should have "strong preparation" for a long battle. "(Assessment of) Situation of any city should not be only based on numbers, but the most important yardstick should be its patient management, patient care," he said.

Raut said that the recovery rate of Nagpur is 66.26 percent. "We discussed hospital management and war rooms in COVID hospitals. We have assigned IAS and IPS officers for zone-wise supervision. We will be providing Dashboard facility to know availability of hospital beds, and increasing the lab testing capacity," the minister said.