Army's Western Command to set up COVID-19 facilities in Punjab, Haryana

Picture credit: IANS

Chandigarh: The Western Command of the Army is setting up COVID-19 hospitals in Haryana and Punjab which will accommodate 100 mild to moderate symptomatic patients, a defence statement said on Saturday (May 8).

The hospitals, being set up in Chandigarh, Patiala and Faridabad, are likely to be inaugurated and thrown open for the civil population on May 10, the statement said according to news agency PTI.

Lieutenant General R P Singh, Army Commander, Western Command, said the command is setting up military COVID field hospitals and providing technical and other assistance to paramedics to revive disused oxygen plants in Punjab.

The officer assured all possible assistance within the institutional capacity of the Western Command to help manage the COVID-19 crisis, the statement said.

The Western Command has its footprints in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh and Delhi.

The Command has contributed 108 doctors, 14 nursing officers and 205 paramedics in various hospitals set up by the DRDO in the region, the statement said
Presently, 33 paramedics are deployed at Government Rajendra Hospital in Patiala, SVBP Hospital in Delhi and another 100 paramedics are to be deployed shortly at various locations, it said.

To tide over the shortage of oxygen in the region, a dedicated team of Army Electronics and Mechanical Engineers is working round the clock to resuscitate the oxygen plant under the Bhakra Beas Management at Nangal in Himachal Pradesh, the statement said.

Lieutenant General R P Singh has assured the administrations of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir of full support of the Army in these testing times, it said.