Indian Armed Forces Ready 9,000 Hospital Beds, 8,500 Healthcare Personnel To Defeat Covid-19

New Delhi:The Defence Ministry on Monday said that the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat updated the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the armed forces’ preparedness to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Rawat told Defence Minister Singh said separate hospital beds have been identified exclusively to treat patients of the novel coronavirus disease. More than 9,000 such hospital beds have been made available, the CDS informed the Union Defence Minister.

Army Chief General MM Naravane informed Singh that more than 8,500 doctors and support staff are available to deal with the outbreak. If need be, this personnel will ready to extend their services to the civilian population as well. He said assistance to Nepal will also be delivered soon.

Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria informed the Defence Minister that IAF planes conducted several sorties within the country in last 5 days to transport approximately 25 tons of medical supplies. He said critical operational work has continued while ensuring all precautions with respect to the outbreak were followed.

The development comes on a day when 30 Army officers were placed under quarantine in Kolkata after they came in contact with a colonel-rank Army doctor who tested for the novel coronavirus disease.

An Army think tank, Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), under the aegis of CDS also released a report titled ‘A Counter Pandemic Strategy’ penned by Brigadier Sanjay Vishwasrao.

As per the Quint, the 190-page report concludes that India can successfully control the curve of the pandemic using an ingenious strategy that’s unfriendly for coronavirus.

The confirmed cases of the disease touched 1,637, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s latest update on Wednesday. There are 1,466 active Covid-19 cases in the country while 132 have been cured or discharged after treatment.-Times Now News