DRDO Reactivates Covid-19 Hospitals In 4 States As India Records Over 2.6 Lakh Cases In Last 24 Hrs

As India fights the second wave, over 12 lakh new cases have been added in a week to the caseload. Considering the shortage of beds and oxygen supply, DRDO is setting up Covid hospitals in 4 states.

Hospitals burdened with rise in Covid cases (Image: Ahmedabad/PTI)

In a new record high, India recorded 2,61,500 fresh cases, taking the caseload to 1.47 crore infections. With 1,501 deaths in a day, the country also saw the deadliest day of the pandemic. Over 2 lakh cases have been reported for the fourth straight day.

The country is facing the most dreadful time and reports of shortage of beds in hospitals and ventilators have terrified the citizens.To battle this crisis the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is in the process of setting up and reactivating Covid-19 hospitals in four cities- Delhi, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, and Patna.

In Delhi, the DRDO is in the process of setting up a 500-bed Covid-19 facility to ease the pressure on the national capital’s healthcare facilities. All the beds will have oxygen support and 250 will be ready for use by Monday. The facility is coming at the same location near the Delhi airport where it had set up a 1000-bed facility last year. That makeshift hospital was folded up this February as the number of cases had dipped. The facility will be staffed and monitored by the DG, the Armed Forces Medical Services and treatment will be free but an RT-PCR report and Aadhar card will be mandatory.

Meanwhile,  DRDO will set up two Covid hospitals in Lucknow – one at Haj House and the other at Golden Blossom Resort-- to create 1,000 more beds for patients in the city. The move, which has been initiated on the directives of defence minister Rajnath Singh, is expected to bring the much needed relief to the state capital that has witnessed over 36,000 cases over the last 10 days.

The district administration identified Haj House on Kanpur Road and Golden Blossom Resort on Faizabad Road and helped in providing these spaces to DRDO’s representatives in UP.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to depute 25 doctors and 75 paramedics from the paramilitary forces at an upcoming 900-bed Covid hospital being set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Gujarat's Ahmedabad. Gujarat is one of the states from where a high number of Covid-19 cases are being reported during the second wave of the pandemic.