1,000-bedded Dhaula Kuan COVID-19 facility to be functional by next week
NEW DELHI: As Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier said in public, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday said that a 1,000-bedded fullfledged COVID-19 hospital set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation would be up and functionals in Delhi's Dhaula Kuan area by next week, furthering bolstering the Capital's healthcare infrastructure.
The MHA also said that this facility would have a referral relationship with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here and would be manned by doctors and paramedical staff from the Army. The facility is expected to be equipped with oxygen, ventilators as well as an ICU, the ministry said in its statement. In addition, Delhi has also been supplied with diagnostic material for carrying out 4.7
lakh RT-PCR tests at the 12 functional labs in Delhi. The ICMR has provided 1.57 lakh RNA extraction kits essential for carrying out the tests and 2.84 lakh VTMS (viral transport medium) used for collecting and transporting swabs to
laboratories. This is in addition to around 6 lakh test kits that the Delhi government has procured. In addition to this, the ICMR has also supplied 50,000 such kits to the Delhi government free-of-cost for supporting
COVID-19 containment efforts. Moreover, the statement from the MHA also said that the Delhi government had been given 11.11 lakh N95 masks, 6.81 lakh PPE kits, 44.80 lakhs HCQ tablets to Delhi. Besides, 425 ventilators for various hospitals and healthcare facilities treating COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, the 10,000-bedded Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre at the South Delhi campus of Radha Soami Sat Sang Beas has been made operational by ITBP doctors and paramedics, who are now ready to receive at least 2,000 patients at this facility. The other beds at the centre are expected to be operational soon.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has also provided laboratory diagnostic support for the processing of samples by RT-PCR including training of lab professionals of the Delhi government, the ministry said.