Bihar: 2 Covid-19 makeshift hospitals with 500-beds each, under PM-CARES Fund

New Delhi: PM-CARES Fund Trust has decided to allocate funds for fight against Covid-19 by way of establishment of 500-bed Covid-19 makeshift hospitals at Patna & Muzaffarpur, Bihar by DRDO.

Announcing the decision on Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a series of tweets said: “PM-CARES Fund Trust has decided to allocate funds for fight against COVID-19 by way of establishment of 500-bed COVID-19 Makeshift Hospitals at Patna and Muzaffarpur, Bihar by DRDO.”

The PMO also said while the 500-bed hospital at Bihta, Patna will be inaugurated today, the 500-bed hospital at Muzaffarpur will also be inaugurated soon.

These hospitals have 125 ICU beds with ventilators and 375 normal beds each, it said, adding that each bed also has oxygen supply. Moreover, the doctors and paramedical staff will be provided by the Armed Forces Medical Services.
On March 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi created the PM CARES Fund and appealed to all countrymen to show their support for the cause amid COVID-19 pandemic.

PM-CARES Fund Trust has decided to allocate funds for fight against COVID-19 by way of establishment of 500-bed COVID-19 Makeshift Hospitals at Patna & Muzaffarpur, Bihar by DRDO. This will go a long way in improving COVID care in Bihar. pic.twitter.com/AAPEIDDcRc

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 24, 2020

With 61,408 new infections reported in the country, the tally has now risen to 31.06 lakh. Of these, 23,38,036 patients have already recovered, while 7,10,771 are still active. The toll stands at 57,542 with 836 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. India’s coronavirus case tally crossed the 30 lakh-mark and settled at 30,44,940 on Saturday, 16 days after crossing the 20 lakh-mark and eight days after breaching the 25 lakh-mark.

Globally, infections have crossed the 23 million-mark with over 8 lakh deaths.US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said a treatment based on blood plasma donated by people who’ve recovered from Covid-19 will be expanded, even before researchers fully understand how well it works. “This is a powerful therapy,” Trump said at a White House news conference. “Today’s action will dramatically expand access to this treatment.” The US Food and Drug Administration confirmed Sunday that it had cleared what’s known as convalescent plasma for use in certain patients

This is a developing story.