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WESTERN COMMAND STEPS IN FOR ASSISTANCE TOWARDS COVID-19

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 5/10/2021 12:28:43 PM

Jammu, May 9 India’s COVID-19 crisis and the extraordinary surge in last one month across the country has become a matter of National concern. In a recent virtual meet between Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab and Lt Gen RP Singh, Army Commander Western Command, the Honorable Chief Minister shared his concerns on the rising trend in the fresh infections especially in the major cities of Punjab and sought for assistance of Western Command to manage the COVID crisis in terms of setting up Military COVID Field Hospitals, provisioning of paramedics and technical assistance to revive the disused Oxygen Plants in the state. The Army Commander assured the honorable Chief Minister of all possible assistance within the institutional capacity of Western Command to help manage the crisis. Consequent to the virtual meet with the Chief Minister of Punjab and requests received from other states, Western Command, which has the footprints in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, HP and UTs of Chandigarh & Delhi is in the process of setting up various COVID related facilities. Apart from contributing 108 doctors, 14 Nursing Officers and 205 paramedics in various hospitals set up by DRDO, Western Command is setting up 100 bedded COVID Hospitals at Chandigarh, Patiala and Faridabad, which will have the capacity to accommodate 100 mild to moderate symptomatic patients. The Hospitals at Chandigarh, Patiala and Faridabad are likely to be inaugurated and opened up for civil population on 10th May 2021. In the effort to support the civil administration, paramedics from Western Command are being re-oriented towards COVID care. Presently, 33 paramedics are deployed at Government Rajendra Hospital at Patiala, SVBP Hospital at Delhi and another 100 paramedics are to be deployed shortly at various locations. To tide over the shortage of Oxygen in the region, a dedicated team of Army Electronics and Mechanical Engineers are working round the clock to resuscitate the Oxygen plant under Bhakra Beas Management at Nangal. Lt Gen RP Singh, Army Commander Western Command has assured the state administrations of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UTs of Chandigarh and Jammu & Kashmir of full commitment from the Indian Army in these testing times.