2 maternity homes for Covid-19-positive pregnant women

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will soon open two dedicated Covid-19 maternity homes in its northern and southern zones.

Revenue Minister R Ashoka made the announcement during a review meeting of Bengaluru’s Covid-19 management with BBMP corporators on Monday. “Pregnant women testing positive for Covid-19 have undergone a lot of hardship. Some hospitals denied them admission while others were not at all prepared to handle the cases,” said Ashoka, who is also the vice-chairman of the Karnataka Disaster Management Authority.

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In order to alleviate the suffering of pregnant women, the government has decided to set up two maternity hospitals exclusively for Covid-19 positive pregnant, Ashoka explained.

Relief in sealed areas

With more and more wards being sealed following a surge in Covid-19 cases, Ashoka directed the corporators to make use of Rs 20 lakh released for each to all the wards to fight Covid-19 scenario.

“Using the funds, you (corporators) can arrange ambulances and vehicles for the emergency patients, provide medicines or essential goods to the people living in sealed areas. This apart, every ward has got Rs 10 lakh as medical fund. You can make use of this to attend to pregnant women in facilitating safe childbirths,” the minister told corporators.

The minister also appealed to the corporators to travel extensively in their wards, instil confidence in Covid-19 patients, take messages from the recovered patients and use them to motivate others. He also directed the corporators to distribute handouts on dos and don’ts during this pandemic.

250 ambulances

Facing an acute shortage of ambulances to ferry Covid-19 positive patients and their primary and secondary contacts to quarantine facilities, the civic body has now made arrangements for 250 ambulances across eight zones of the BBMP.

Mayor M Goutham Kumar said that these vehicles can be utilised by the public for both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 purposes.

The BBMP has arranged 179 Tempo Travellers (TTs) besides 71 ambulances. According to the BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar, 39 vehicles have been deployed in the East Zone, 64 in the West, 67 in the South, 20 in Rajarajeswari Nagar, 12 in Dasarahalli, 15 in Yelahanka, 16 in Mahadevapura and 16 in the Bommanahalli Zone.