'Faster than the virus': Mumbai gears up for a third COVID-19 wave

Mumbai is building four mammoth centres across the city with units for children infected with COVID-19 and it is working closely with a special task force that includes some of India's top paediatricians. Mumbai's Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, widely credited for successfully managing the surge there, said the four COVID care centres with paediatric units, as good as hospitals, will be able to house more than a thousand children along with a parent.

The city is spending tens of millions of dollars to build the paediatric units and is already procuring ventilators, monitors and other medical equipment. The facilities, which will also have intensive-care units (ICUs), will be ready by next month, well before experts predict the third wave will hit, said Chahal, adding that there is ample funding from the state, companies and even Bollywood celebrities.

Apart from these units, the government is also in talks with hospitals to increase the number of paediatric beds and ICUs. The paediatric task force, led by Dr Suhas Prabhu, plans to train about 660 paediatricians on how to handle children affected by COVID-19, and then broaden the training to more staff. The third wave might not end up affecting children greatly, but cities like Mumbai cannot afford to be caught off guard, Prabhu said.

The city has set up local COVID "war rooms" in 24 zones to decentralise the pressure and hasten the response. The city has floated a global tender to acquire 10 million doses from private companies, Chahal said. "If we get the vaccines, in 60 days we can fully vaccinate Mumbai and negate the threat of a third wave," he said. "That's my biggest challenge and we are on it now."