More than 5,000 isolation beds ready, says Pune district collector

About 98 isolation beds available at Dr Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital of the Pune Municipal Corporation Naidu and the Sassoon General Hospital

With Pune being the second Covid-19 hotspot in Maharashtra after Mumbai, has ramped up its preparedness to combat the deadly disease by creating dedicated facilities at many private hospitals and defence hospitals in addition to the government hospitals which have been in the forefront of this war.

Naidu Hospital is equipped with eight ventilators. There are 39 ventilators and 238 ICU beds in all the designated hospitals, including private and government. (HT PHOTO)

Pune district collector, Naval Kishore Ram said, “We are not worried about the infrastructure for isolation and quarantine. Currently we have more than 5000 beds ready for isolation purpose. Our only issue now is to mobilise the expertise required to take care of those in isolation which includes mobilising doctors and nursing staff. Many corporate companies are also coming forward now to offer their premises as isolation facilities. So the district is completely ready to isolate all suspected Covid19 patients and also take good care of positive patients.”

List of isolation facility available in the city

· About 98 isolation beds available at Dr Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital of the Pune Municipal Corporation Naidu and the Sassoon General Hospital.

· Naidu Hospital is equipped with eight ventilators. There are 39 ventilators and 238 ICU beds in all the designated hospitals, including private and government.

· Sassoon’s new building has 50 ICU beds. Plans are afoot to install 700 isolation beds at this new building.

· 11 private hospitals have provided 37 isolation beds.

· For rural and municipal council areas in Pune district, about 36 private hospitals and three government hospitals with 238 beds have been organised. This will be increased to 489 beds in a week’s time.

· District Hospital at Aundh has 40 isolation beds; sub-district hospital at Baramati has 32 beds and another sub-district hospital at Manchar has 20 beds.

· 500-bed sports complex at Balewadi, Pune, has been converted into an isolation facility

· Sports hostel at Sanas Ground has been converted into a 200 bed isolation facility.

· Army’s Southern Command in Pune, has offered quarantine facilities.

· Ammunition Factory, Khadki (AFK) has created a 30-bed isolation ward

· SVP Cantonment General Hospital, has created institutional quarantine facility for about 10 people and Isolation ward with 30 beds.

Govt launches self-assessment test

The Maharashtra government recently launched a self-assessment test for Covid-19 that can be taken by the public. The test can be accessed at https://covid-19.maharashtra.gov.in/ The test advises that based the self-assessment, one may decide whether or not to get in touch with a doctor.