The Union Health Ministry on Sunday, asserted that India has adequate health infrastructure is in place to fight the pandemic erupted due to the contagious coronavirus disease.

Briefing about the public health facilities dedicated to COVID-19 management, the ministry officials in a statement said that a total of 7,740 dedicated facilities in 483 districts have been identified, which are categorised into three categories: Dedicated COVID Hospital (DCH), Dedicated COVID Health Centre (DCHC) and Dedicated COVID Care Centre (DCCC).

As on Sunday, 7,740 facilities in 483 districts have been identified in all States/Union Territories that include hospitals and facilities of the State/UT governments as well as the central government. It further stated that there are 6,56,769 isolation beds, 3,05,567 beds for confirmed cases, 3,51,204 for suspected cases, 99,492 oxygen-supported beds, 1,696 facilities with oxygen manifold and 34,076 ICU beds.

Going by a PTI report, all the States/UTs have been requested by the central government to notify and upload the assigned three types of COVID dedicated facilities on their websites for public information and 32 States/UTs have already uploaded the information while the rest are in the process of doing it.

In view of the need for further increasing the testing capacity for COVID-19 at National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the procurement of a high-throughput machine as per the recommendations of an Empowered Group was approved.

The Cobas 6800 testing machine has been successfully installed at NCDC here, the statement said.

NCDC is providing support for testing of samples from Delhi, NCR, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and various other states, as per need. Presently the testing capacity at NCDC is about 300-350 tests per day and with Cobas 6800, which has a capacity to test around 1,200 samples in 24 hours, the capacity at NCDC will be significantly enhanced.

In the official statement, the health ministry has also explained the basis of classification of COVID-19 dedicated facilities into the three categories.

Dedicated COVID Hospitals (DCH)

The Dedicated COVID Hospitals are hospitals that offer comprehensive care primarily for those who have been clinically assigned as severe. These hospitals shall have fully equipped ICUs, ventilators, beds with assured oxygen support, and separate areas for suspect and confirmed cases. According to the statement, these Hospitals shall serve as referral centres for the Dedicated COVID Health Centres and the COVID Care Centres.

Dedicated COVID Health Centres (DCHC)

The Dedicated COVID Health Centres are hospitals that offer care for all cases that have been clinically assigned as moderate. The DCHCs shall have separate areas for suspect and confirmed cases. Moreover, these hospitals shall have beds with assured oxygen support and every DCHC is mapped to one or more Dedicated COVID Hospitals.

Dedicated COVID Care Centres (DCCC)

The COVID Care Centres shall offer care only for cases that have been clinically assigned as mild or very mild cases or COVID suspect cases. The ministry officials explained that these are makeshift facilities which may be set up by the States/UTs in hostels, hotels, schools, stadiums, lodges, etc., both public and private. These facilities shall have separate areas for suspected and confirmed cases, ministry said, adding that every DCCC is mapped to one or more DCHC and at least one DCH for referral purposes.

India has so far recorded over  62,000 coronavirus cases with more than 2,100 people loosing their lives to the deadly disease. Nearly 20,000 have recovered, including 1,511 patients who returned homes in the last 24 hours after falling sick due to the contagious coronavirus. This takes the total recovery rate to 30.76 per cent.