NEW 1,000-BED HOSPITAL TO BE READY IN NEXT 10 DAYS: SHAH

nNEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that a 1000-bed full-fledged hospital with 250 ICU beds -- being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Tata Trust -- would be ready in the next 10 days for the treatment of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients in Delhi.

Shah made the announcement in a tweet, following up on his response to a news that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had written to the home minister, requesting him to deploy nurses and doctors from the army and Indo-tibetan Border Police (ITBP) at the 10,000-bed Covid care centre coming up at the Chhatarpur campus of spiritual organisation Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

In his response on Twitter, Shah said, “Dear Kejriwal ji, It has already been decided in our meeting 3 days back and MHA has assigned the work of operating the 10,000-bed COVID Care Centre at Radha Swami Beas in Delhi to ITBP. The work is in full swing and a large part of the facility will be operational by 26th Jun.”

In another tweet, the home minister said, “Armed Forces personnel have been detailed for providing medical care and attention to Covid patients housed in the railway coaches in Delhi. 8,000 additional beds have already been placed at Delhi government’s disposal for making Covid care centres, as per requirement.”

Responding to Shah’s tweet, Kejriwal thanked the home minister. “The armed forces, doctors, NGOS, central government and Delhi government - all agencies are working together for Delhi. I believe, together, we shall defeat coronavirus. Thank you for helping the Delhi government and the people of Delhi in such trying circumstances.”

Delhi on Tuesday reported 3,947 fresh cases and 68 deaths. With this, the total number of infections in the city has reached 66,602 and 2,301 people have succumbed to the viral disease.