586 COVID-19 hospitals with 1 lakh isolation beds, over 11K ICU beds across country: Health Min

A total of 586 hospitals in the country have been marked as dedicated COVID-19 hospitals with capacity of over one lakh isolation beds and 11,500 ICU beds reserved for coronavirus patients, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

Addressing a press briefing, Health Ministry's Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said the government has taken early preemptive action to identify COVID-19 hotspots in the country. In the absence of a lockdown and other containment measures, there would have been over 8.2 lakh coronavirus cases in the country till April 15, he said.

According to the Health Ministry, 1,035 fresh COVID-19 cases and 40 deaths due to the disease were reported in the last 24 hours across the country, taking the total number of cases to 7,447 and deaths to 239 nationwide.

Agarwal said, "586 dedicated COVID-19 hospitals have been earmarked at the state and centre level. One lakh isolation beds and 11,500 ICU beds have been reserved for coronavirus patients across country. This figure is being augmented every day, based on the evolving situation."