DRDO’s 450-bed Lko hospital to be operational by Friday
HAL’s 250-bed hospital in state capital to be ready by first week of May
LUCKNOW: With over 80% work having been completed, Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) 450-bed temporary Covid-19 hospital at Awadh Shilp Gram here is all set to become operational by Friday. Officials with DRDO said the hospital would be a boon in minimising the mortality graph in the state capital.
Other than DRDO’s Covid hospital, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) confirmed the establishment of another 250-bed Covid hospital which, they said, would be operational in the first week of May.
“We are done with more than 80% of the total work that includes laying of oxygen pipelines, setting up hangars, beds, ventilators and other logistics,” said Dr Narendra Kumar Arya, director, Directorate of Public Interface (DPI). Arya said the DRDO hospital was expected to start admitting patients by the end of this month.
On April 24, defence minister Rajnath Singh had tweeted that DRDO’s makeshift hospital would become operational in another six days.
“Work is in full swing to establish a Covid-19 facility in Lucknow that would become operational in the next five to six days. This hospital would be run by AFMS in coordination with the UP government,” the defence minister had tweeted.
Arya said of the total 450 beds, 150 beds would serve as an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and would be equipped with ventilators, liquid oxygen connectivity and other life-saving logistics. The others will be the regular beds.
“It will be as per WHO guidelines. We are specialised in setting up ICU beds. The hospital would be centrally air conditioned. The air would enter from one side and will be released from the other end,” Arya added.
He said the hospital would be similar to what DRDO established in Delhi and Patna in times of the pandemic.
HAL’s makeshift 250-bed Covid hospital would come up in Haj House. Gopal Sutar, chief of corporate communications/media relations at HAL, confirmed the establishment of 250-bed hospital and said it would be operational by the first week of May. The hospital is expected to have around 100 ICU beds, well equipped with ventilator and oxygen connection. Once operational, the two hospitals together would have 700 beds, including around 300 ICU beds, and that would indeed be a boon in minimising the mortality rate, said health department officials.