As the city registers over 10,000 active cases, majority of them being detected in just under 10 days, the B.S. Yediyurappa-led BJP government has worked overnight to build India’s biggest Covid Care Centre, which is all set to admit corona patients.
The BBMP is preparing to open a massive Covid Care Centre (CCC) on the sprawling Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) campus on Tumakuru Road to combat the spiralling coronavirus cases.
Government officials said the 10,100-bedded facility will be the country’s largest. New Delhi’s Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre currently holds the honour of being the world’s largest Covid care facility with 10,000 beds. The BIEC facility will accommodate asymptomatic Covid-19 patients or those with mild symptoms.
Initially, the BBMP planned to arrange 5,000 to 7,000 beds in BIEC’s five halls with 2m distance between the beds.
“But the latest standard operating procedure released by the Centre says one-metre distance between the beds is sufficient. So, we scaled up the capacity to 10,100 beds across five halls. Around 150 doctors apart from over 1,500 para-medical staff will be taking care of unit round the clock,” explained S.R. Vishwanath, Chief Minister’s Political Secretary.
He said the centre is wellventilated with enough toilets, nursing stations, kitchens, and other facilities necessary to attend to asymptomatic patients.
“We have decided to set up 10-bedded ICUs at every Covid Care Centre,” Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, who visited the facility, said. “In BIEC alone, a 100-bedded ICU will be set up with all medical facilities, including oxygen supply. As of now 7,000 beds are installed and by Friday evening 3,000 more will be in place,’’ he said. The authorities have put up LED screens to show entertainment programmes, especially for children and the elderly to help them overcome boredom. Good quality food has also been organised for patients with separate bins to dispose of the plates.
A bio-medical waste agency has been given the tender to clean the facility. The centre will have separate cabins with 40 beds and televisions sets in each cabin.
“HiTech toilets and washroom facilities have been provided at all the halls. Separate oxygen chambers have also been set up,” sources said.
Vishwanath said patients will be diverted to BIEC by the end of the week. “All medical staff have been relieved from their non-medical duty and directed to these clinical services. Additional trained staffers will also be deployed at these Covid centres. If there are any more complaints about the quality of food, the suppliers will lose the contract without notice,” he cautioned.