Journalist who was quarantined calls Mumbai's Kasturba hospital clean; BMC elated

Mumbai, Mar 18: A journalist who was admitted at the Mumbai civic body's Kasturba hospital to get tested for coronavirus has shared her experience of beingquarantined at the facility, calling it clean and sans any panic.

In a four-minute video uploaded on Tuesday, Abira Dhar said shelanded in the city on March 9 after a four-day trip to New York. On arrival here, she was screened for temperature along with all other passengers. Two days later, she got a call from a doctor who said she had a travel history and wanted to check if she showed any symptoms.

"I coincidentally woke up with a sore throat so I was asked to got for a check-up to Kasturba hospital... There were ten people in a queue, everything seemed smooth, there was no panic. After my details age, address, contact number were noted, I was asked to get admitted for the test, which takes 24 hours for the results to come," Abira said in the video.

The journalist said she "wasn't prepared" to be admitted but was surprised to see the condition of the hospital beds and bathrooms, which she said were clean. "I was taken to ward number 9 where people getting tested were being admitted.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the ward was it was super clean. The beds were rusted, old, but very clean. There were around 30 beds with three-four people. The bathrooms were so clean, which I didn't expect.

"Around 11 in the night the reports were out and the certificate read 'tested negative for coronavirus' and had a prescription of the medicines to have as a precautionary measure," she said. The CMO's official Twitter handle shared the video, writing, "Government is pro actively taking precautions to combat this crisis." Soon after, the BMC Twitter handle said"the entire team at Kasturba is grateful for the gesture."

"This was completely unexpected! The team is re- charged to continue to serve everyone with utmost care," BMC tweeted. Maharashtra is India's worst-hit state with thenumber of coronavirus positive cases reaching 42. A Covid-19 patient died in Mumbai on Tuesday.