Will be able to comfortably treat 5,000 Covid-19 patients: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Amid a sharp spike in the number of coronavirus cases in Assam, State Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today announced that the state's health department is equipped enough to treat at least 5,000 patients at a time.

"Today we have 800 patients and nobody is in panic because we have the capacity and we are in a position to treat them. We have conservatively kept ready 5,000 beds. Out of that, 500-600 will be dedicated for symptomatic patients. Otherwise also, we will be able to comfortably treat 5,000 patients spreading across Assam", Biswa Sarma said.

Sarma's assertion has come amid a surging number of Covid-19 patients across the state where the tally is inching towards 1,000 cases. At the time of filing of this report, 910 corona positive cases have been detected in the state so far. While 103 patients have been discharged, 800 cases remain active and 4 people have succumbed to the respiratory illness.

Assam's Preparedness to Tackle the Pandemic:

To deal with the burgeoning number of cases, the State's Health Department has converted several facilities into Covid-19 facilities. In a latest addition, the the ₹150 crore super-specialty block at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) that shall be used as a dedicated Covid-19 facility until the crisis is averted.

Centrally funded, the 4-floor-236-bed (186 ward, 50 ICU) superspeciality block at the GMCH will now be used to treat Covid-19 patients, with the number of cases nearing a thousand after the return of citizens who were stranded elsewhere. Biswa Sarma, who inaugurated the block amid much fanfare, has informed that the new state-of-the-art facility will greatly enhance the state Health department's abilities to combat the rapidly-spreading virus. At the same time, several existing hospitals have been amped up with extra infrastructure so as to be able to treat virus patients.

Later today, Himanta Biswa Sarma will also inaugurate a 150-bedded Covid-19 facility in Tezpur. "Things are moving in a right direction, and we are in a position to deal with 5,000 patients at a time", he said.

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