900-bed COVID-19 hospital becomes operational in Ahmedabad

A 900-bed COVID-19 hospital, set up jointly by the DRDO and the Gujarat government, started functioning in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

In the wake of a spike in COVID-19 cases, the facility, named Dhanvantari Covid Hospital', has been set up at the Gujarat University Convention Centre here, according to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and state Chief Minister Vijay Rupani visited the facility on Friday.

''The 900-bed Dhanvantari Covid Hospital at the Gujarat University Convention Centre in Ahmedabad has started treating patients from today. Only referral patients will be admitted for treatment in this hospital under the '108' centralised system,'' the CMO said in a press note.

The capacity of the facility can be enhanced by 500 beds, according to the state government.

Shah told reporters on Friday that the facility, set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with the Gujarat government, has all the necessary equipment and facilities, including CT Scan.

The Centre had recently announced that 25 doctors and 75 paramedics from paramilitary forces would be deployed at the facility.

Shah had said another temporary hospital with 1,200 beds will come up in Gandhinagar soon.

On Saturday, Gujarat recorded 14,097 COVID-19 cases, its highest single-day spike so far, taking the overall infection count in the state to 4,81,737.

The state also reported its highest single-day fatality count of 152 on Saturday, pushing the toll to 6,171, while there were 1,07,594 active cases in the state, as per official data.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)