BENGALURU: As the health infrastructure in the state has been overwhelmed by the surge in Covid cases, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi has appealed to the Defence Minister to convert all armed forces hospitals in the state into Covid Care Centres.
“The situation is unprecedented and it is further aggravated by the non-availability of ICU beds in almost all government and private hospitals,” Joshi stated in a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Explaining the grim situation in the state. Joshi, MP from Dharwad, said that daily, more than 35,000 new cases are being reported and Bengaluru alone is reporting over 20,000 cases, while active cases are more than 2.2 lakh. The situation in other districts is of great concern.
“The positivity rate in the state is almost 22 per cent and almost all hospitals are overwhelmed with patients , he stated. Joshi said that all hospitals, including the Command Hospital in Bengaluru, Military Hospital in Belagavi and INHS hospital in Karwar should be converted into Covid Care Centres so that shortage of immediate medical care to the extent possible can be addressed.
He also appealed to the minister to take steps to start new makeshift hospitals from defence forces in Karnataka to meet the needs of emergent situation. He appreciated the state government for “doing its best to make available timely medical care to the increasi n g number of patients.” Taking to Twitter, Joshi stated that he has requested Rajnath Singh to convert all armed forces hospitals in Karnataka into Covid Care Centres and also those under DRDO and other military agencies for to urgently start makeshift hospitals as that will help meet the urgent medical requirement for Covid patients in Karnataka.