In a bid to ramp up Covid-19 tests and subsequent treatment, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the state-run Calcutta Medical College and Hospital would function as a full-fledged tertiary level Covid hospital from May 20.
"Keeping in view the increasing need of ramping up specialised Covid-19 treatment in the state, we have decided to notify the Medical College, as full-fledged tertiary level Covid-19 hospital, which will start functioning from May 7, 2020," Banerjee said in a tweet.
The Chief Minister said the facility at the Medical College would start with 500 beds for both Covid and SARI, which would be scaled up as per need in phases. "This will be the 68th dedicated Covid hospital in West Bengal," she said.
Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna, West Bengal Home Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay said that there are currently 15 such medical facilities, 10 government run units and the rest five are private, which are carrying out Covid-19 tests in the state.
"There are 12 other facilities, 10 government-run units and two private, which are now ready to carry out Covid-19 tests as well. We have applied for permission from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)," Bandopadhyay said.
Presently, there are 271 ventilators available with the state health machinery only to deal with Covid-19 cases.
Disclosing the total number of Covid-19 deaths in West Bengal which climbed to 72 on Wednesday, up by 4 cases, the Home Secretary informed that as many as 112 people have been freshly identified with Covid-19 symptoms in the past 24 hours.
"With these new 112 cases, the total number of Covid positive cases stands at 1,456 till date of which 265 patients have already been discharged from various hospitals. The total number of Covid-19 patients in Bengal who are undergoing treatment is 1,047," he added.
He said the total number of Covid-19 samples tested so far was over 27,571. "As many as 4,604 people have been taken to government quarantine facilities while 9,663 are currently home quarantined," Bandopadhyay said.
The Home Secretary said that all frontline Covid-19 warriors in Bengal have been brought under an insurance coverage of Rs 10 lakh by the state government. State Asha healthcare workers have so far reached to over 6 crore residents across West Bengal.
( With inputs from IANS )