As many as five new Covid-19 hospitals were opened in the State on Monday.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the special hospitals through video-conferencing at Bargarh, Talcher, Rourkela, Paradip and Jharsuguda. n Bargarh, the 200-bed facility has been set up with funding from Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). It will be managed by Vikash Multi-Speciality Hospital. While 100 beds including eight ICU and seven emergency have been set up on the premises of the district headquarters hospital (DHH), the rest are in Government Polytechnic College building near the DHH. The hospital is equipped with a patho-lab, radiology unit, bio-waste management system along with separate isolation centre for critically-ill patients. 

Official sources at the DHH said the hospital will operate with around 200 paramedical staff including technicians, pharmacists, health and sanitation workers besides 60 doctors. Adequate number of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits have been procured and proper safety measures ensured for doctors and staff. Similarly, the 150-bed hospital at Talcher has been set up with the funds from Coal India’s subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL). Sundargarh district got its second Covid-19 hospital which started functioning from the newly-constructed Medical College and Hospital of NTPC on the day.

The 200-bed facility is manned by 10 doctors including specialists, 15 staff nurses, 10 pharmacists, three laboratory technicians, one Microbiologist, 30 sanitary workers and 27 security guards. The hospital will also be utilised for collection of swab samples. The first hospital of the district, functioning from Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital here, was made functional on April 3. In Paradip, the 50-bed hospital was inaugurated at Biju Yatri Niwas. The facility, having separate isolation wards and five ICU beds, has been set up with funds from Paradip Port Trust.