Dhanvantari COVID Hospital: Gujarat's Ahmedabad to get new COVID-19 facility today

Ahmedabad, Apr 24: Amid the rising cases of coronavirus in India, Ahmedabad will add another dedicated COVID-19 hospital to its set of hospitals on Saturday as a 950-bed facility Dhanvantari Covid Hospital becomes functional. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) helped in setting up the hospital in collaboration with the Gujarat government. This COVID-19 hospital is situated at the Gujarat University Convention-cum-Exhibition Centre at GMDC ground.

According to reports, Dhanvantari COVID Hospital has 950 oxygen beds, including 250 ICU beds and its capacity can be further enhanced by 500 more beds and 25 doctors and 75 paramedics will be deployed at Dhanvantari.

On Friday, Union home minister Amit Shah, chief minister Vijay Rupani and deputy chief minister along with several top officials came and checked its preparations. "This facility has been set up by DRDO in collaboration with the Gujarat Government. It has around 950 oxygen beds, including 250 ICU beds. It will start functioning from tomorrow. It has all the necessary equipment and facilities including CT Scan," Shah said.

"To address needs that might arise in near future, a 1,200-bed hospital will come up soon at the Helipad ground in Gandhinagar. While the Tata Trust would bear the expenditure, the facility will be set up by the DRDO and it will have 600 ICU beds," the home minister further added.

The home minister also announced that IAS officers and district administration will soon audit the vaccination drive in the state to address the issue of vaccine wastage. He also praised Rupani's efforts in containing the pandemic. Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani along with his counterparts from other states and Union Territories which have a high burden of COVID19 attended the review meeting with PM Modi on Friday.

Chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Uddhav Thackeray, Ashok Gehlot, BS Yediyurappa, Pinarayi Vijayan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Captain Amarinder Singh, Yogi Adityanath and Bhupesh Baghel attended the meeting as their respective states fight a COVID-19 surge.