Officials said on Thursday that a COVID care centre provided with 500 oxygen beds will be restarted in Delhi among a wave in coronavirus cases, and border guarding force ITBP has been again consigned to run it.
As per the order issued by the Union Home Ministry said the Delhi government has “sought assistance to re-operationalise” the Sardar Patel COVID care centre (SPCCC) with 500 oxygen beds, which was first created last year at the Radha Soami Beas campus located in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur area.
“Keeping in view the above request, it has been decided to provide adequate number of medical officers and para-medical staff to man 500 oxygenated beds at SPCCC.”
“ITBP is designated as a nodal force for operation of the SPCCC…ITBP may draw the required medical manpower (doctors and paramedics), if needed, from other central armed police forces (CAPFs) also,” the order said.
Delhi has been observing a wave in coronavirus cases. Over 24,000 fresh COVID-19 cases and 249 deaths were recorded on Wednesday amid a growing outcry for oxygen and hospital beds in the city.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) director-general S S Deswal told PTI that the force is setting together with the manpower for the facility that was first operationalised in June-July last year when COVID-19 cases in Delhi were witnessing a steep rise.
The official data said that the centre was shut on February 23 and it treated 11,657 COVID patients since its opening last year.
It was shut due to a “continuous decline in the number of coronavirus positive cases in the National Capital Territory of Delhi vis-a-vis adequate availability of medical facilities,” an official data said.
Deswal said, “the ITBP manpower will be in place as soon as the infrastructure at the centre is ready.”
“We will have sufficient doctors and staff. If need arises, we can deploy more of our doctors and medical staff to enhance beds at this centre that will be made operational with 500 beds initially,” he said.
A senior official added that the centre is supposed to be operational in the next three days.
The MHA order added that “the boarding and lodging arrangements for doctors and para-medical staff including expenses thereon will be made by the Delhi government.”
Following the surge in coronavirus cases, the ITBP has recently initiated a number of other facilities for treating its personnel, those from other police forces and CAPFs, their veterans and their families.
If a COVID care centre with 90 beds has been reactivated by the force at the CAPFs Referral hospital in Greater Noida, another centre with 200-beds has been started at the ITBP camp in Chhawla where the first batch of Indians and some foreigners returning from Wuhan in China were quarantined last year after the pandemic broke out.
It is a third such facility of 50-60 beds is being run by the 90,000 personnel active force at its composite hospital located in Chandigarh.
The ITBP, which was established in the aftermath of the 1962 Chinese aggression, is essentially tasked to guard the 3,488 Kms long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China apart from rendering a variety of roles in the internal security domain of the country.
Post Your Comments