West Bengal government converts Kolkata Medical College into COVID hospital

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that Kolkata Medical College would be converted into a full-fledged COVID hospital as cases of novel Coronavirus continue to mount in the State. The CM said the hospital will be operational from Thursday will be the 68th dedicated COVID hospital of the State.

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In a tweet, Mamata Banerjee said that her government has decided to notify the 185-year-old prestigious medical school into a tertiary level COVID hospital that'll start functioning from May 7. She informed that the facility will start with 5000 beds for both COVID-19 and SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Illness) patients which would be scaled up in phases as per need. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

West Bengal has so far reported 1,344 cases of COVID-19, of which 364 patients have recovered while 140 have died. Nationwide, 49,391 people have been so far been confirmed to have been infected of which 14,183 patients have recovered while 1,694 people have succumbed to the disease. India has hastened its research and development into developing a vaccine to treat COVID-19 as are several other nations.

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