Chief Minister wants DRDO hospital operational in 48 hrs

DRDO IS YET TO ANNOUNCE DATE FROM WHICH THE HOSPITAL WILL START ADMITTING COVID-19 PATIENTS.

LUCKNOW: The trial run of Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) 450-bed makeshift Covid-19 hospital at Awadh Shilp Gram in Lucknow was carried out on Friday even as chief minister Yogi Adityanath inspected the hospital and directed officials to make it operational within 48 hours.

The hospital would be named after former Prime Minister the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, according to a state government statement. DRDO is yet to announce the date from which the hospital will start admitting Covid-19 patients. Officials said the trial run was carried out successfully by defence doctors and experts in the presence of the chief minister.

“The trial run was carried out by our doctors. It was ensured that all logistics are in place. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, too, visited the hospital on the day to review the ongoing preparations,” said Dr Narendra Kumar Arya, director, Directorate of Public Interface (DPI).

Besides, DRDO officials said the hospital would be run by army doctors and state government doctors jointly. They also said the hospital, where more than 90% of the total work has been already completed, would be a boon in minimising the fatalities in the state capital.

Arya said of the total 450 beds, 150 would serve as the ICU and they would be equipped with ventilators, liquid oxygen connectivity and other life-saving logistics. The others will be regular beds. “It will be as per WHO guidelines. We are specialised in setting up ICU beds,” Arya added.

Like DRDO’s 450-bed Covid hospital, the city would get another makeshift 250-bed Covid hospital that would come up at the Haj House.