DRDO to build 2 500-bed Covid hospitals in J&K

Jammu : In a bid to ramp up medical infrastructure for quality Covid care, the DRDO will build two 500-bed Covid hospitals in Jammu and Srinagar, officials said on Wednesday.Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, while chairing a high-level meeting, reviewed the setting up of the two 500-bed Covid hospitals, one each in Jammu and Srinagar, by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).J&K Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, Financial Commissioner (Health) Atal Dulloo, Union secretaries of the concerned departments and officials from DRDO, ITBP and AFMS Institute participated in the meeting.The Chief Secretary informed that the UT has witnessed a consistent surge in patient-load over the past few days. The existing healthcare facilities are adequately catering to the needs of the patients; however, a continuation of this upward trend may lead to a shortage of Covid beds, he noted.To successfully mitigate the shortages in medical facilities, it was requested that the temporary DRDO Covid hospitals be constructed well in time.He further requested that the upcoming hospitals must be equipped with isolation beds having oxygen support and 125 fully equipped ICU beds.Assessing the requirement of dedicated Covid infrastructure in the Union Territory, Bhalla asked the government of Jammu and Kashmir to immediately identify suitable locations for constructing 500-bed hospitals while asking the DRDO to evaluate and submit corresponding proposal estimates through a team of experts.The meeting was informed that the J&K government has identified two patches of land in Jammu and Srinagar for early start of construction work.