Coronavirus: 75% clinics open, permit suspension for rest, says BMC

Seventy-five per cent of nursing homes have resumed operations after they were warned against keeping shutters down in the lockdown for novel coronavirus outbreak, and the remaining 25 per cent will have their permits suspended, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials on Monday.

In a press release issued on Monday, the BMC said 1068 of the total 1,416 nursing homes in Mumbai have reopened after Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi had, last week, asked his officials to take legal action against such facilities that had downed shutters and were inconveniencing people who needed treatment for non-coronavirus ailments.

"Our review on Monday found that 75.42 per cent of private nursing homes and clinics have reopened. Out of the 99 dialysis centres, 89 reopened," an official said.

The BMC release said the municipal commissioner had directed the civic health department to cancel permits of nursing homes that are still shut and issue legal notices to those operating them.

Action will also be taken against closed private dispensaries under the Epidemic Diseases Act, it said.