Odisha gets its third COVID-19 dedicated govt hospital

A 525-bed hospital, dedicated for coronavirus patients, was set up at SOA campus in Odisha's Bhubaneswar. This is the third government COVID-19 dedicated hospital in the state.

According to officials, the state now has the capacity to handle 1,350 coronavirus patients.

The hospital, which will be managed by SUM Medical College and supported by MCL, also has a 25-bed ICU facility.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today interacted with the doctors and healthcare workers of the hospital through video conferencing and appreciated their commitment to serve people during this pandemic, an official statement said on Monday.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated the initiatives taken by the Odisha government in the fight against coronavirus and called upon all, cutting across caste creed and party line, to follow the advice of both the state and central government.

"Union Minister Prahalad Joshi also assured all support from the Centre in the effort and indicated setting up more COVID-19 hospitals in the state," read the statement.

Two other COVID-19 hospitals, a 500-bed hospital at KIMS and a 125-bed hospital in Cuttack, are also functional in the state to tackle any eventuality.

Besides, the district administration of Sundergarh has also established a 200-bed dedicated COVID-19 hospital at Rourkela with hi-tech MC and hospital.

Meanwhile, the Odisha government has also started working to set up four lakh isolation bed facilities in 7,000 panchayats across the state.