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Pune to have three jumbo Covid care facilities soon
Already, an 800-bed facility is coming up at the Balewadi sports complex.
Pune will have three jumbo Covid care facilities soon, with a total capacity of 2,400 beds, it was decided on Monday, at a review meeting chaired by deputy chief minister and Pune guardian minister Ajit Pawar.
As the number of Covid-19 patients are increasing and critical patients are not getting access to beds immediately in private hospitals, Pawar instructed the administration to create a total of three facilities.
Already, an 800-bed facility is coming up at the Balewadi sports complex.
The review meeting was attended by the district administration’s top brass involved in managing the Covid-19 pandemic in Pune, including the collector, the divisional commissioner and the police commissioner
Saurabh Rao, officer on special duty at the divisional commissioner’s officer, said, “It has been decided to create three jumbo Covid care facilities which would be temporarily hospitals dedicated to critical Covid care. Each facility would have 800 beds. Of the 800 beds, 600 are oxygenated beds and 200 are ICU beds.”
Rao said, “PMRDA is erecting one facility at Balewadi. The other two facilities would come up in city areas. Four places have been identified, but considering the infrastructure like water and electricity, the administration still has to finalise the locations. Right now, the locations under consideration are AIMISS college, Sanas Ground, College of Engineering Pune and Sangvi.”
Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said, “It is decided that the contractor would provide man power for the jumbo facilities. The administration is also upgrading Sassoon hospital. The expression of interest for two of the jumbo facilities will be published very soon.”
Mhaisekar added, “July-end and August is critical. We are considering the worst-case scenarios as per various forecasts for doing the planning. As instructed by the guardian minister, we are preparing the infrastructure by considering the maximum critical patients and trying to give treatment to each patient.”
Police Commissioner K Venkatesham said, “Administration is doing their duty, but citizens also need to take care. Citizens must need to keep social distance and wear masks. Citizens need to come out only if it is necessary and important.”
Ajit Pawar said that the government would erect the infrastructure, but the city needs to take care of the manpower.
Pawar instructed the administration to co-ordinate with medical universities and asked all medical students studying in their final year to join the medical corps involved in the Covid fight, for which a stipend would be provided.
Box 1
Cases in rural areas on the rise: collector
District collector Naval Kishore Ram said that along with Pune, the number of cases in Pune’s rural districts are increasing. “Cases are increasing mainly in Haveli taluka and villages near the Pune. A large number of people from these areas are coming to the city or going to nearby industrial areas. The district administration cannot seal the rural areas completely,” Naval Kishore Ram said, adding that, for example, 1,500 residents of Manjri are working at the Serum institute. “How can the administration execute a strict lockdown in these villages? Rural areas have a scarcity of doctors but we are deputing more medical manpower,” he said.
Box 2
Keep watch on bills issued by private hospitals: Pawar
Guardian minister Ajit Pawar instructed the administration to keep a strict vigil on bills being issued by private hospitals and the cross-check the same. “Complaints are coming in that private hospitals are charging Covid patients exorbitant bills. If necessary, take action against the concerned hospitals,” Pawar said.
