6,200 beds for Covid patients in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala hospitals: Chief Secy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25

In light of rising number of COVID cases in some districts, the Punjab Government is fully geared up to effectively deal with the further spread of Coronavirus with 6,190 beds dedicated for treatment of COVID patients in both government and private hospitals at Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala.

Taking stock of the medical infrastructure and arrangements in hospitals across the state in health institutions, the Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan divulged that the State Government was well prepared with requisite bed capacity, ventilators in hospitals besides having adequate arrangements of PPE kits, masks and testing kits to deal with increasing COVID cases.

The Chief Secretary said the situation was under control and people need not to panic and urged them to strictly adhere to the health and safety protocols, including social distancing, proper wearing of masks, washing hands frequently, etc., to contain coronavirus.

The Chief Secretary, who also heads the all-important State COVID19 Management Group, mentioned that senior officer of civil administrations had been deputed as Nodal Officers in all the districts with senior IAS officers Sumit Jarangal and Tanu Kashyap deputed as state nodal officers to oversee the daily number of cases to make available the requisite medical infrastructure well in time.

The Group, set up on the directives of the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh who is monitoring situation daily, is an inter-sectoral group to ensure synergised efforts from all departments and stakeholders.

She stated that the Deputy Commissioners had also been tasked to liaison with private hospitals in districts to increase the availability of dedicated beds for treatment of COVID patients, which had so far resulted in ensuring nearly 2,000 beds. She also revealed that the aggressive testing had already been initiated in the hotspot districts to further keep the coronavirus under check.

For level 2 and 3 combined as many as 5,000 beds are already available across state, Vini Mahajan reiterated adding a dedicated group of medical experts has been constituted in every district to ensure that patients are admitted/ treated as per their medical requirements i.e. including ‘Reverse Referral’ meaning thereby a patient no longer requiring a ventilator in L3, but still requires management and treatment can be shifted to an L2 facility. 

On the directives of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, the State Government has already augmented its Covid care capacity for mild asymptomatic cases under 60 years of age, with operationalisation of new Level-1 Covid Care Centres (CCCs) with total capacity of 7,520 beds in 10 Districts. Similar centres with 100 beds each, would be opened soon in the remaining 12 districts, the Chief Secretary further added.

Vini Mahajan said that the new CCCs have already been made functional with following bed capacities in 10 districts like Jalandhar (1,000), Amritsar (1,000), Patiala (470), Bathinda (950), Ludhiana (1,200), Sangrur (800), S.A.S. Nagar, Mohali (500 bed capacity at Gian Sagar Hospital and 1000 bed capacity at Chandigarh University), Pathankot (400), Fazilka (100) and Faridkot (100).

These centres are running in Meritorious Schools or other institutions to the capacity of 7,000 beds which can be enhanced to 28,000 beds if the cases surge further.

Elaborating the finances being incurred against COVID management, the Chief Secretary informed that over Rs 300 crore had been spent by the State Government on COVID care and migrants across the state.

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