COVID-19 cases in U'khand to be treated only in designated hospitals

COVID-19 cases in Uttarakhand will now be treated only in the hospitals designated for the purpose, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Saturday.

The hospitals where only COVID-19 cases will be treated now are Mela Hospital (Haridwar), Doon Hospital (Dehradun), Medical College (Rudrapur) and Sushila Tiwari Government Hospital (Haldwani), he added.

The rest of the hospitals in the state will function as earlier, Rawat said.

Earlier, COVID-19 cases were also being treated at other health facilities.

Hospitals in nine districts, where there are no positive coronavirus cases, have been opened now and will function from Sunday as earlier, the chief minister said.

In a separate message on the start of the holy month of Ramzan, Rawat greeted people and appealed to them to do "ibadat" at home, maintaining social distancing.

"With mutual cooperation alone we can defeat the coronavirus pandemic," he said.

Uttarakhand has reported 48 positive coronavirus cases so far, of which 25 have recovered.

There are 11 containment zones or hotspots in the state -- seven in Dehradun, three in Haridwar and one in Nainital.