Mumbai (Maharashtra): An independent 400-bed pediatric covid care centre will be set up soon at the NESCO Covid Centre in Goregaon. Mumbai Municipal Corporation Additional Commissioner Suresh Kakani has informed ETV Bharat that an independent pediatric ward will be set up at all Covid Centres in the city.
Now, this pediatric covid care ward is claimed to be the first of its kind with 400 beds. The decision has been taken amidst fears of a third wave as experts opine that it could be more deadly and will affect the children. It may be noted that senior citizens were most affected in the first wave and those younger in the second wave.
All those citizens 18 years and above who have been vaccinated will be much safer in the third wave. According to experts, those who contract corona post-inoculation will experience only mild symptoms.
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At present, as children are not yet vaccinated it is feared that they could be targeted by the virus in the next wave. In India, the third wave is said to be dangerous for young children. In the meantime, the children in Mumbai are safe so far.
As of May 4, 11,144 children between the ages of 0 and 10 were affected, including 55 percent boys and 45 percent girls, according to formal figures from the municipality. At the same time, 28,869 children between the ages of 11 and 20 have been affected out of which 55 percent were boys and 45 percent were girls.
Considering the state, only 3 percent of the total infected patients are in the age group of 0 to 10 years, while 6 percent of the infected are in the age group of 11 to 20 years, these figures are reassuring.
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With the Pediatric Covid Center to be set up within a month, as the experts have warned about the severity of the third wave, the healthcare sector has pulled up their socks to keep the little ones safe.
For now, children are being treated at the Municipal Hospital Covid Center, excluding large hospitals like Nair, KEM and Sion, where there is no separate covid ward for children, and are being treated with other patients.
As it will be necessary to treat children in a separate ward and under the supervision of a specialist doctor in the third wave, it has been decided that an independent pediatric ward be created in all Covid centers. However, the first independent 400-bed pediatric covid center will be set up at NESCO, added experts.
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Dr Rajesh Dere, Dean of NESCO's Center Phase-2, said that the first independent 400-bed pediatric covid center would be built soon and will consist of oxygen and ICU beds. A decision has just been made and preliminary work is about to begin. It is not possible to state anything about this center or its cost for now. Also, the center will have all the facilities required for the treatment of children and that the work would be completed in a month.
