Assam: 300 Bed Covid Hospital Built By DRDO In Just 20 Days, Starts Operations

The Assam state government rolled out a new 300-bed hospital dedicated to Covid-19 patients constructed in merely 20 days by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) at the Sarusajai Stadium complex Guwahati.

Rs 21.46 crore was spent in raising the hospital spanning across a total area of 3200 sq m. It hosts 200 beds in the general ward and another 100 intensive care unit (ICU) beds. The facility is equipped with a laboratory, ultrasound and ECG room, a pharmacy, and an X-ray room.

“Since assuming office, we have been able to set up 390 ICU beds and 2,684 oxygen beds all over the state to cater to Covid-19 patients,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was quoted in a report by Hindustan Times.

CM Sarma further added that the state government’s advanced planning had enabled them to adequately look after the oxygen requirements of their patients and accordingly deliver the same to other neighbouring states in the northeastern part of the country.

He expressed the belief that this DRDO-constructed hospital will immensely benefit Assam’s battle against the pandemic, as the state is presently recording 3,800 daily Covid-19 cases with a test positivity rate of three per cent.

With this new facility in Guwahati, DRDO has established six hospitals during the second wave of Covid. The research organisation also set up a 750-bed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid hospital in Delhi, a 900-bed Dhanvantari hospital in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, a 500-bed ESI hospital in Patna, a 750-bed Pandit Rajan Mishra hospital in Varanasi, and a 500-bed Atal Bihari Vajpayee hospital in Lucknow.