All 500 beds will have oxygen support manned by experts from the Armed Forces Medical Services.
New Delhi: Going beyond their call of duty, the Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) is setting up a 500-bed Covid-19 healthcare facility in Delhi that will become operational within the coming few hours.
The said facility will be based on the guidelines mandated by the World Health Organization (WHO). All the 500 beds in the facility will have oxygen support that will be manned by experts from the much efficient Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMC).
Sources in DRDO told The Sunday Guardian that the decision to set up this facility was taken in view of the increasing Covid-19 cases in the NCR region and the resultant pressure on private and government hospitals, which are already running to their full capacity.
The upcoming Covid care facility will be situated adjacent to Controller General of Defence Accounts building near the T1 Domestic Air Terminal, New Delhi, and will have separate blocks for patients, doctors and duty accommodation for the medical team, an administrative block with a doctors’ room, area catering for visitors/attendants and a reception, a basic laboratory and a pharmacy shop.
Officials added that if the situation demands, the number of beds in this facility will be doubled to ensure that none of the Covid-19 patients is turned back due to lack of beds. It is pertinent to mention that last year in July when NCR was facing increased cases, DRDO had built a 1,000-bed temporary hospital at the same place in a record time of 12 days. The said facility was spread across 25,000 square meters in view of social distancing norms and comprised one reserved ICU ward with 250 beds with ventilators. The facility was named after Colonel B. Santosh Babu who lost his life along with 19 others in the clash with Chinese soldiers in Galwan, Ladakh, just a few days ago on 15 June. The other general wards in the facility were named after other fallen soldiers, including Shaheed Nb Sub Satnam Singh Medical Ward, Shaheed Nb Sub Nuduram Soren and Shaheed Nb Sub Mandeep Singh Medical Ward.
In November 2020, the ICU beds were increased to 500 and according to DRDO sources, at that time, health experts from other central forces like ITBP, CAPF and other services were roped in to help the patients. Five months of the opening of this health care facility, which was shut down in February this year in wake of the decreasing cases, saw close to 3,500 admissions.