Coronavirus-hit India digs in for the long haul; here are the facilities set up so far

Amid widespread coronavirus fears, two floors in the new super-speciality block of Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital have been turned into an isolation ward. With two cases of COVID-19 already confirmed in the National Capital Region, the latest being a Paytm employee in Gurgaon, the government is now bracing for more rise in the number of the infected.
Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the other nodal centre for COVID-19, also has a 32-bed isolation facility ready. Besides the two nodal centres, the government has asked 25 other hospitals — 19 government-run and six private ones that usually treat swine flu patients — to set up isolation wards, adding 230 beds.

Apart from the hospitals, two isolation facilities were created by the army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Manesar and Chhawla. These facilities, where suspected cases including all Wuhan evacuees, have been taken for mandatory quarantine, can accommodate around 800 people.

Even as Delhi activates its H1N1 network, other states have been asked to identify possible isolation facilities. The armed forces, paramilitary forces, medical colleges and even PSUs have been asked to help in scaling up the isolation facilities across the country.

Telengana
In Telegana, where 20 suspected cases have been reported, Hyderabad's Gandhi Hospital has been set up as a facility to test for the virus. The government has also arranged isolation wards in hospitals across all 13 districts in the state.

A command and control centre has also been established at the Health Department which is monitoring operations 24x7.

Goa
The Goa government has set up ten-bed isolation ward each at three facilities to deal with suspected cases. Besides an existing ward at state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital near Panaji, ten-bed isolation ward each has been set up at Community Health Centre, Chicalim (South Goa), Primary Health Centre, Sankhalim (North Goa) and TB Hospital in Margao (South Goa).

Bengaluru
In Bengaluru, where five people were suspected of being infected, an isolation ward has been set up at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD).

Himachal Pradesh
Isolation wards have been set up at designated hospitals, with health outposts created at Public Health Centre in McLeodganj in Kangra district. There are isolation wards in the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Shimla and the medical college in Tanda town in Kangra district.

Kolkata
The ID&BG Hospital has set up isolation wards. The state health department has also set up a camp at the airport terminal international wing to ensure immediate quarantine of flyers identified as ‘suspects’ after thermal screening.

Apart from the nodal hospital, all teaching hospitals in the city and eight state-run hospitals in the districts have also created isolation wards to deal with nCoV should the numbers suddenly shoot up. The statewide isolation ward infrastructure currently stands at 92 beds.

The laboratories list*
Currently active coronavirus test laboratories in India:

Delhi: AIIMS
Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow
Rajasthan: SMS, Jaipur
West Bengal: NICED, Kolkata
Assam: GMC, Guwahati
Maharashtra: IGGMC, Nagpur; Kasturba Medical College, Mumbai
Gujarat: BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad
Telangana: Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad
Karnataka: BMCRI, Bengaluru; NIV Field Unit, Bengaluru
Tamil Nadu: KIPMR, Chennai
Kerala: NIV Field Unit, Alapuzzha


Proposed centres where testing was supposed to begin today (March 6)

J&K: SKIMS, Srinagar; GMC, Jammu
Chandigarh: PGIMER
Rajasthan: SNMC, Jodhpur
Bihar: RMRIS, Patna
Assam: RMRC, Dibrugarh
Tripura: GMC, Agartala
Odisha: RMRC, Bhubaneswar
Chhattisgarh: AIIMS, Raipur

*Source: Bloomberg Quint