28 Armed Forces hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, 11 hospitals for the test facility
Posted on: 28/Mar/2020 4:39:41 PM
Army Chief General M M Naravane on Friday, stating that the battle against COVID-19, which he termed “Operation Namaste”, will be won, has asked soldiers to follow the government-ordered lockdown wherever they do not have any operational role.
General Naravane said: force protection” is his priority and asked Army personnel who spend time in close quarters in forwarding posts or in tanks to remain fit. He assured soldiers posted at border areas that their families will be well taken care of.
Preparing for the fight against the pandemic in the country, 28 Armed Forces hospitals have been earmarked as COVID hospitals,
Director-General of Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), Lieutenant General Anup Banerji, said these hospitals will “include armed forces patients as well as civilian patients transferred from state health authorities, in case their capacity is overwhelmed”.
Further, he said five hospitals from the Army, Navy and the Air Force are conducting coronavirus tests using the RT-PCR methodology, and six more hospitals will be equipped soon with the resources to begin testing, taking the total to 11 service hospitals in the country.
Lt Gen Banerji said that within the Army, isolation wards at peripheral hospitals in forwarding formations have been geared up and intensive campaigns to make the personnel aware are being carried out.
He said, “Leave extension of those on leave as well as curtailment of leave to bare minimum has been imposed. Segregation facilities have been set up to observe troops already back from leave from various states.”
The Army at present has six quarantine facilities at Manesar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Chennai, Hindan and Mumbai where 1,463 people evacuated from coronavirus-affected countries have been accommodated.
The forces are setting up more such facilities at Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Dundigal, Bengaluru, Kanpur, Jaisalmer, Jorhat and Gorakhpur. These can be ready within 72 hours if needed, it was informed.
The 62 Cantonment Boards have been instructed to identify beds in hospitals and health centers and guesthouses for any eventuality.
