The Karnataka government recently inaugurated a fully equipped mega Covid-19 Care Centre (CCC) in Bengaluru, with all facilities for treating asymptomatic patients.
During its inauguration, ‘Corona Warrior’ Kishore Kumar N, a resident of Madavara, who has been involved in supplying essentials to the needy since last month was fat-shamed.
The staff present there wanted to test how strong the beds were. Kumar, who weighs 170 kg, was made to lie down to check the ability of the beds.
Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, BBMP Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad and other officials were also present at the event.
According to a report by Bangalore Mirror, Yelahanka MLA SR Vishwanath, political secretary of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa told Kumar that he must “not get admitted to the CCC since the government would find it difficult to feed him.”
When asked about the same, Kishore told the tabloid that it doesn't really matter to him. “I’m quite used to people commenting on my weight. I will focus on continuing my work as a corona warrior at the BIEC," he said.
"The mega CCC at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) in the city's northwest region is said to have 10,100 beds with all facilities, including a cot, fan, bucket, mug and dustbin for patient care," a health department official told IANS.
Though the city civic body (BBMP), which is in-charge of the CCC, was to arrange the facilities on rental basis at Rs 800 per day or Rs 24 crore a month, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa directed it to buy the essentials for the mega centre and use them later at state-run youth hostels in the state.
"By purchasing the essential items in bulk at Rs 7,500 per set for 6,500 beds installed at the CCC so far, we will save about Rs 19 crore, as they cost Rs 4.87 crore and can be used in state hostels for needy students," said the official.
The department will also spend an additional Rs 2.5 crore for vinyl flooring in 7.9-lakh square feet area at the CCC for the welfare of the patients.
"The government will rent 19 other non-reusable items required for each bed at Rs 6,500 per month, amounting Rs 4.23 crore, said the official.
Inspecting the CCC on July 9, the Chief Minister said for every 100 patients at the facility, one doctor, two nurses, one support staff, one housekeeping person and two civic marshals would be on duty.
"The health department will depute 2,200 health warriors, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, housekeeping and security staff to the CCC," he said.
The patients will be served quality food and provided television sets, carom boards and chess boards for recreation.
Medical staff will be provided with safety kits for emergency treatment, ICU, ECG, oxygen support, first aid and pharmacy facilities.
A 24x7 control room will be set up to monitor the CCC, which will have a tie-up with nearby hospitals for admitting infected patients, as it will have people who are asymptomatic.
A laundry unit will be set up to wash blankets and bed-sheets of patients. Segregation and waste disposal will be done systematically.
Karnataka has registered 5,324 new COVID-19 cases, raising the state's tally to 1,01,465, Medical Education Minister K.Sudhakar said on Monday.
Meanwhile, 75 more patients have succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll in the state to 1,953.
In addition to Bengaluru continuing to account for the highest number of cases everyday, 1,470 on Monday, Ballari and Kalaburagi districts have seen a sudden spike in infections.
Ballari reported 840 cases, while, Kalaburagi 631 on Monday.
However, in the past few days, the share of Bengaluru's active cases in the entire state has been gradually declining, reaching 55 per cent on Monday.
On a positive note, 1,847 more patients have been discharged, increasing the total number of discharges to 37,685.
Of the 1.01 lakh new cases, 61,819 are active.
In an attempt to reinforce the state's Covid testing capacity, the health department has increased the number of laboratories in the state to 90.
With inputs from IANS
