Odisha to have 36 dedicated hospitals for COVID-19 patients soon: Official

Bhubaneswar, Apr 15 () Amid spurt in coronaviruscases, the Odisha government is set to have 36 dedicatedhospitals soon for treatment of COVID-19 patients, an officialsaid on Wednesday.

These hospitals covering all the 30 districts of thestate will have a combined bed capacity of 6,000, he said.

As of now, "20 exclusive Covid hospitals" have alreadybeen made operational in 18 districts in the state with atotal bed strength of 3,420 and 197 ICU facilities as part ofthe government's preparedness to deal with the pandemic, hesaid.

"We are taking concrete steps to make 16 morededicated Covid hospitals in rest of the districts within thestipulated time frame.

"The aim is to add 2,282 more beds and 38 ICU bedsvery soon to strengthen our preparedness to contain COVID-19,"the senior official said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given direction formaking functional all the proposed Covid hospitals in thestate within a week, he said, adding that officials areworking on a war footing to achieve the goal.

Among the upcoming dedicated Covid hospitals is a 110-bedded facility being established at Jharsuguda.

All the preparations in this regard are in full swingto ensure that the hospital is operational at the earliest,the official said.

Jharsuguda district administration has already signedan MoU with HITECH Medical College which will ensureoperationalisation of the hospital.

The facility is being developed at the old districtheadquarters hospital at Mangal Bazar, he said.

As part of the corporate support to fight COVID-19,Vedanta Jharsuguda has committed more than Rs 2 crore tomobilise medical equipment, medicines, ventilators, beds, etcfor the upcoming hospital, a company official said.

Two more new Covid hospitals with a total 300 bedcapacity are coming up in partnership with National AluminiumCompany (NALCO) and Paradip Port Trust (PPT) as part of thepreparedness to deal with corona menace.

While Nalco has come forward to fund an exclusive 200bedded hospital at Nabarangpur, PPT will set up a dedicatedfacility with 100 beds for corona patients in Paradip inJagatsinghpur district, officials said.

Similar hospitals exclusively for treatment ofcoronavirus-infected patients are going to be readied verysoon in Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Sonepur, Nuapada,Baripada, Angul, Puri, Phulbani, Cuttack and Nayagarhdistrict, they said.

"The aim is to ensure faster tests, diagnosis andproper treatment of suspected cases and confirmed patients,"an official said.

At present, there are two dedicated hospitals inBhubaneswar with a combined bed capacity of around 1,100,while Cuttack city also has an exclusive facility.

Regarding testing of samples of suspected cases, hesaid Covid tests are now being conducted in a large number ofcentres located at almost all regions of the state.

Apart from RMRC, AIIMS and ILS in Bhubaneswar and SCBMedical College and Hospital in Cuttack, the MKCG MedicalCollege and Hospital in Berhampur and IGH, Rourkela havestarted testing of samples.

Steps are also being taken to ensure availability ofmedicines and equipment, personal protective gears and oxygencylinders, the official said, adding that the state hasadequate stocks of these materials at presents.

As per the chief ministers directions, officials areensuring a balanced distribution of medicines and equipmentamong exclusive hospitals, testing centres and othergovernment health institutions.

"Adequate stocks of essential medicines includingantibiotics are available for five months of consumption. Wealso have enough stock of three-layer masks, PPEs and handsanitisers," the official said.

So far, 1.53 lakh people including doctors andhealthcare personnel have been given special training to fightCOVID-19 in the state, he added.

Odisha has reported 60 COVID-19 cases so far while 18persons have recovered from the disease.

A 72-year-old patient from the state capital died ofthe disease on April 6. SKNBDC BDC