Mumbai: 126 cancer patients recover from COVID-19 infection

Mumbai, June 12: As many as 126 cancer patients, who had tested COVID-19 positive, and were undergoing treatment at the city-based National Sport Complex of India (NSCI), have recovered from the infection and discharged till Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

They were part of over 175 cancer patients, who were undergoing treatment at the facility in Worli.

Currently, 52 cancer patients and their four relatives are undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the NSCI dome in Worli, while 126 cancer patients and 10 relatives have been discharged after they recovered from the infection, the civic body said.

The COVID-19 cancer patients admitted to the NSCI dome were suffering from various types of cancer like gastric, urologic and that of blood, head, neck and breast, it added. These COVID-19 positive cancer patients included a 2- year-old child and a 77-year-old woman, while most others were over 50 years old, it said.

"Cancer patients from various parts of the country were being treated at this facility," the release said, adding that one such patient from Bangladesh was also admitted there. As per the experience in the western world, cancer patients have a greater risk of death when affected by coronavirus, the BMC said.

Therefore, as per government regulations, cancer patients also suffering from COVID-19 cannot be kept in usual isolation facility called 'corona care centres'. Hence, the Mumbai civic body came to the rescue of Tata Memorial Center and offered their facility in the NSCI stadium, it added.

The city's first jumbo isolation facility at the NSCI dome has admitted nearly 1,000 COVID-19 patients since it opened on March 21, the civic body said.