More than 70 nurses have been infected in Mumbai

More than 70 nurses in the Indian city of Mumbai have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 250 nurses have been quarantined, according to a senior official from the United Nurses Association (UNA) of Maharashtra state.

At the Bhatia Hospital, 15 nurses who had been in contact with two coronavirus patients tested positive today.

Those two patients had previously been transferred from another hospital, the Wockhardt Hospital, where more than 50 nurses have tested positive, according to UNA General Secretary Akash Pillai.

At Wockhardt, most of the infections were reported after three nurses treated a symptomatic patient without protective equipment, then went back to their hostel, where they lived with 280 other nurses.

Another 10 nurses have also tested positive at a third Mumbai hospital, Pillai said.

Insufficient equipment and protection: The UNA wrote a letter to the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai last week, urging the government to provide the necessary equipment to frontline workers.

“The Municipal Corporation says that they don’t have enough equipment, but the number of beds available is also diminishing, if health-care workers continue to be exposed the situation will turn worse,” Pillai said.