Has a 1000-bed COVID hospital been established by Indian Army near T1 at Mumbai Airport?

Amid increasing demand for hospital beds and rising cases of COVID-19, a message began circulating on social media claiming that the Indian Armed Forces had established a 1000 bed COVID Care Hospital near Terminal 1 of Mumbai Airport. 

The message directed to Mumbai residents on WhatsApp claimed that the state-of-the-art 1000-bed COVID hospital was being initiated from April 28, 8 AM onwards and was admitting patients in need of immediate hospitalisation. In addition, the message also claimed that the facility is meant to extend a hand to all civilian brethren and ex-servicemen and is completely free of cost.

Is there a 1000-bed hospital near Mumbai Airport? 

The message circulating on social media saying that there is a 1000-bed COVID-19 care hospital by the Indian Armed Forces near Terminal 1 of Mumbai Airport is absolutely fake. There is no such hospital in existence and this claim has also been strongly countered by the Defence Ministry's PRO. 

"There is a message circulating on social media that a 1000 bedded COVID-19 care hospital by Indian Armed Forces has been established near Airport terminal T1 at Mumbai. This has no basis and is FAKE news," said the Defence Ministry PRO on its official Twitter handle. 

As per Maharashtra Press Information Bureau, there are 6,74,358 active cases of COVID-19 in Maharashtra, with 44,10,085 active case, 36,69,548 recoveries, 66,179 deaths and 2,62,54,737 total tests till date. In the last 24 hours, 66,358 new cases, 67,752 recoveries and 895 deaths were reported. As of April 28, Mumbai has reported 4,966 fresh cases and 78 deaths taking the total cases to 6,40,507.