“We have 3,416 PPE kits wit us which we will provide to medical staffers involved in COVID-19 patients’ care,” Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said.
Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram on Monday released a fund of Rs 2.26 crore for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cantonment General Hospital (SVPCGH) in Pune Cantonment to create an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facility.
Ram said SVPCGH needed an ICU to provide necessary intensive care to patients of COVID-19, which has so far infected over 140 people in Pune district alone.
“We are creating new facilities and stepping up capacities of all government hospitals. We are also enlisting the help of private hospitals… We have decided to create an ICU facility at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital in Pune Cantonment to ensure that residents will have the access to intensive care at the nearest public hospital. I have released Rs 2.26 crore for this purpose,” said Ram.
Apart from that, an isolation ward of 50 beds has also been prepared at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital. “The capacity of the isolation ward can be further expanded to 120 beds if needed,” Ram said.
The Pune Revenue Division — consisting of five districts – has so far created quarantine facilities at 88 places with a cumulative capacity of 12,850 beds. Isolation wards have been created at 52 places with a total capacity of 2,167 beds.
While some concerns are being raised about the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical staff, Pune Division officials said 52,240 N-95 masks and 2.47 lakh triple-layer masks are available with the state government-owned public hospitals and those operated by local bodies.
“We have 3,416 PPE kits wit us which we will provide to medical staffers involved in COVID-19 patients’ care,” Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said.