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DRDO Covid facility reopens today, amid spike in cases
The hospital -- built by DRDO in record time of 12 days with assistance from the armed forces, ministry of home affairs, ministry of health and family welfare and Tata Trust -- became operational in July 2020. It was shut in the first week of February this year after daily cases nosedived
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is set to reopen its Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid Hospital in Delhi Cantt today to deal with the massive spike in infections as the national capital battles another wave of the disease, officials said.
The facility should have been functional with 250 beds on Sunday, but its opening was delayed by a day as military doctors posted there wanted some last-minute arrangements to be made, the officials said. No formal inauguration of the hospital is planned, they said.
“Once patients are admitted, workers can’t get inside the facility. So, a decision was taken to get the work completed before opening the facility to patients,” said one of the officials cited above.
He said all beds at the hospital have provision for giving oxygen to patients and there are enough ventilators in the hospital. “Patients will be treated free of cost. An RT-PCR Covid positive report and Aadhar card will be necessary for admission,” he said.
Another 250 beds will be added to the Covid hospital by the weekend, said a second official. It will be functioning under a major general from the military’s medical wing. DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy reviewed the preparations at the Covid hospital on Sunday.
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The facility was shut in the first week of February after daily Covid cases nosedived. It was earlier functioning with 1,000 beds.
It got 250 additional ICU beds last November to provide treatment to patients. This took the total number of ICU beds at the hospital to 500 though the total capacity of the centre, spread over 25,000 square metres, stayed the same (1,000 beds).
The hospital -- built by DRDO in record time of 12 days with assistance from the armed forces, ministry of home affairs, ministry of health and family welfare and Tata Trust -- became operational in July 2020.
The ICU ward in the hospital has been named after Col B Santosh Babu and the other two medical wards have been named after Naib Subedar Mandeep Singh and Naib Subedar Satnam Singh to honour the memory of bravehearts killed in action in the June 15 Galwan Valley clash with the People’s Liberation Army in eastern Ladakh.
