750-bed COVID-19 hospital set up by DRDO opens in Varanasi

LUCKNOW: A 750-bed hospital set up by the DRDO for COVID-19 patients on Banaras Hindu University's campus in Varanasi opened on Monday, an official statement said here.

Currently, a 250-bed ICU facility is functional and the capacity of the Pandit Rajan Mishra Covid Hospital will gradually be expanded to 750 beds with anticipated patient inflow.

All beds at this temporary facility set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be provided with oxygen as the hospital is well-equipped with 40 KL of oxygen stored in three tanks, the statement said.

Medicines and food will be provided free of charge to all patients.

There will be no direct walk-in admissions to the hospital and all admissions will be managed through referrals by the Integrates Command and Control Centre, Varanasi under the State administration.

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The armed forces are providing specialists, doctors, nursing and other medical staff who are moved from across the country on a war footing to run the hospital in coordination with Banaras Hindu University and the civil administration, the statement said.

The medical staff has been trained in COVID protocols and all equipment has been checked for serviceability and quality control, it said.

The state government has facilitated all major functions such as supply of essential amenities to run the hospital, including oxygen, dedicated power supply, bio-medical and other waste management system and patient management system.

"Amid the ongoing second wave of COVID-19, the Ministry of Defence has come forward to support the fight against the pandemic by setting up and manning the operations in various Covid Hospitals across the country," the statement said.

After Delhi, Ahmedabad and Lucknow, the Varanasi hospital was made functional, it further said.