New Delhi (NVI): The Ministry of Defence today said that a total of 1,737 persons have been handled at six COVID-19 quarantine facilities set up by the Army, of which 403 have been released so far after following mandatory procedures.
Armed forces have been playing a crucial role along with the civil authorities in mitigating the impact of coronavirus pandemic that has claimed 56 lives in the country so far, with total confirmed cases crossing the 2000 mark.
At present, six quarantine facilities or wellness centers by the Army are operational at Mumbai, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Hindon, Manesar and Chennai.
Three positive COVID cases – two from Hindon and one from Manesar – were referred to Safdarjung Hospital in the national capital for further treatment. In addition, 15 other facilities are being kept ready as standby for use, if required, the Defence Ministry said.
Apart from that, dedicated COVID-19 facilities including High Dependency Units, Intensive Care Unit beds are being prepared in 51 hospitals of the Armed Forces across the country. Some of these facilities are located at Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Dundigal near Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kanpur, Jaisalmer, Jorhat and Gorakhpur.
Five viral testing labs at Armed Forces hospitals which can carry out COVID-19 test have been made part of the national grid, the ministry said. These include Army Hospital (Research & Referral), Delhi Cantt; Air Force Command Hospital, Bangalore and Armed Forces Medical College, Pune; Command Hospital (Central Command), Lucknow and Command Hospital (Northern Command), Udhampur. Six more hospitals are being equipped shortly with the resources to begin COVID-19 testing.
Army has been been working round-the-clock to provide medical and logistics support to the needy to contain COVID-19 pandemic. Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) has deployed its resources to aid the civilian authorities at this crucial time.
