Indian Army steps up efforts to fight pandemic, sets up COVID-19 Management Cell

As India battles the pandemic, the Indian Army has set up a COVID Management Cell to bring greater efficiency in coordinating real-time responses to address the exponential rise in Coronavirus cases across the country, a statement said on Thursday. The Indian Army also said that assistance to civil administration in Delhi is already being provided in the form of testing, admissions in military hospitals and transportation of critical medical equipment.

Indian Army helps battle COVID-19 pandemic

"In order to coordinate multiple facets of staffing and logistics support, an exclusive COVID Management Cell under a Director General rank officer has been established which reports directly to the Vice Chief of Army Staff," the army statement said.

Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, the Indian Army has been at the forefront of COVID response at the national level. It has deployed considerable medical resources to assist civil authorities especially at the five COVID hospitals already functional or in the process of being established at Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna.

Chief of Naval Staff calls on PM Modi 

Earlier on May 3, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to brief him about the initiatives taken by the Indian Navy to battle the pandemic. As per the statement, PM Modi reviewed all the initiatives taken by the Navy to assist the countrymen in these tough times.  

The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral informed PM Modi that the Indian Navy has reached out to all state administrations and have offered to help in terms of hospitals, beds, transportations and other such things. He also apprised the Prime Minister about Naval hospitals being opened for use of civilians in various cities across the country. Admiral Karambir Singh also informed that the medical personnel in the Navy have been deployed at various locations across the country to manage COVID-19 duties. 

Stating that the Naval personnel as being provided Battle Field Nursing Assistant Training, the Chief of Naval Staff further mentioned that the Navy is helping to increase the availability of medical oxygen in places like Lakshadweep as well as Andaman & Nicobar Islands. He also apprised PM Modi that the Indian Navy is transporting Oxygen Containers as well as other supplies from Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Singapore to India.

Rajnath Singh reviews efforts of the Armed Forces

Earlier on May 1, the Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting, in which he reviewed the efforts of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces in supporting the civil administration in the fight against the second wave of COVID-19. In the meeting, Rajnath Singh was briefed about the many initiatives being taken by the forces, which includes the Indian Army setting up more than 720 beds in various States, 500-bed hospital being set up in Lucknow that will be functional in a brief time of two to three days, and another hospital being set up in Varanasi which will be functional by May 5, both by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Besides, setting up beds in hospitals, he was also given a brief on steps to increase staff in hospitals. He was further informed that 600 additional doctors are being mobilised through special measures such as calling to duty those who had retired in the last few years while the Indian Navy has deployed 200 Battle Field Nursing Assistants to assist in various hospitals.

It was added that the National Cadet Corps (NCC) has also deployed 300 cadets and staff at various locations in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Haryana. He was also informed about the telemedicine service, to be operated by health veterans, that will begin soon to provide consultation to those patients who remain at home.

As per government data, while transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out several sorties from Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai and within the country, the Indian Navy dispatched four ships – two to the Middle East and two to South East Asia – to transport filled oxygen containers to India. As of May 01, 2021, IAF carried out 28 sorties from abroad, airlifting 47 oxygen containers with 830 MT of capacity, while from within the country, it carried out 158 sorties, airlifting 109 containers with 2,271 MT capacity. The Navy and the Air Force have also supplied nearly 500 portable oxygen cylinders from their stores to various civilian hospitals.

COVID-19 situation in India

India so far has recorded over 2,10,77,410 positive cases, out of which 1,72,80,844 have successfully recovered and 2,30,168 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 4,12,262 new cases, 3,29,113 fresh recoveries and 3,980 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 35,66,398.

(Image: Pixabay- Syaibatulhamdi, PTI)