Jammu & Kashmir: DRDO To Build Two 500-Bed Covid-19 Hospitals As Cases In Valley Surge

The upcoming hospitals will be equipped with isolation beds having oxygen support and 125 fully equipped ICU beds.

(Representative Image/Getty)

Srinagar: To bolster the anti-covid fight, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will establish two 500-bedded COVID hospitals, one each in Jammu and Srinagar. This was announced by Union Home Secretary, Ajay Bhalla, while chairing a high-level meeting today. The upcoming hospitals will be equipped with isolation beds having oxygen support and 125 fully equipped ICU beds.

Chief Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir B V R Subrahmanyam, FC Health Atal Dulloo, Union Secretaries of the concerned departments and officers from DRDO, ITBP, and AFMS Institute participated in the meeting.

The Chief Secretary informed that the UT has witnessed a consistent surge in patient-load over the past few days and that the existing healthcare facilities were adequately catering to the needs of patients.  However, a continuation of this upward trend may lead to a shortage of COVID beds for which request for the temporary DRDO COVID hospitals was made.

Assessing the requirement of dedicated COVID infrastructure in the Union territory, the Union Home Secretary asked the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to immediately identify suitable locations for constructing 500-bedded hospitals while asking DRDO to evaluate and submit corresponding proposal estimates through a team of experts.

The Government of Jammu & Kashmir has identified two patches of land in Jammu and Srinagar for early start of construction work.

In the past, the Defence Research and Development Organization has built 1000 bedded temporary COVID hospitals across the country in approximately 12 days each. The construction of two 500-bedded hospitals in J&K will greatly reinforce medical infrastructure for dedicated COVID care in the Union Territory.