COVID Third Wave: 50 ICU Beds To Be Kept For Children At 2 U'khand Hospitals; Know All About Preparations

Claiming that the health infrastructure has been consistently strengthened in the state, the official said be it ICU beds, oxygen or ventilator supported beds, there has been a manifold augmentation of all facilities since March last year.

Representative Photo

Dehradun: Fifty ICU beds with ventilators will be reserved for children at two hospitals being built in Rishikesh and Haldwani by the DRDO for the care of coronavirus patients, Health Secretary Amit Negi said on Monday.

Two temporary hospitals with 500 beds each are being built on the IDPL campus in Rishikesh and Haldwani.

The two hospitals are likely to be operational by next month.

"Twenty-five ICU beds at each of these hospitals will be reserved for children," Negi told reporters in reply to a question related to a possible third wave of coronavirus, which according to experts may affect children.

Claiming that the health infrastructure has been consistently strengthened in the state, the official said be it ICU beds, oxygen or ventilator supported beds, there has been a manifold augmentation of all facilities since March last year.

The number of oxygen-supported beds, which stood at 673 in March last year, has risen to 6,000. ICU beds have risen from 216 in March last year to 1,495. The number of ventilators has also increased from 116 to 983 during the period, Negi said.

Uttarakhand had only 1,193 oxygen cylinders in March last year, which has now risen to over 10,000 while oxygen concentrators have gone up from 275 to 1,500 at present.

He said the process of adding and improving more facilities continues and there should be no difficulty in dealing with any situation in future.