Kolkata civic body urges RWAs to set up safe homes for Covid-19 patients – Hindustan Times

Kolkata News

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has urged resident welfare associations of large complexes and high-rise societies in the city to set up their own safe homes to isolate Covid-19 positive patients.

“High-rises societies and large housing complexes have been asked to turn their community halls into safe homes with an adequate number of beds, requisite supply of oxygen and other paraphernalia in line with Covid-19 protocols,” said a senior official of the civic body.

While West Bengal reported 12,876 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, at least one out of every four patients was registered in Kolkata. The city has nearly 19,000 active cases.

“When the first wave of Covid-19 hit in 2020, a significant portion of the cases came from large housing complexes. This time too we apprehend that they could become hotspots of Covid-19 and hence such advisories have been sent out,” said another official.

The state government came up with the concept of safe homes with beds, oxygen facility and telemedicine facilities in 2020 to free up hospital beds. There are around 200 state-run safe homes in West Bengal, concentrated mostly in Kolkata, with more than 11,000 beds where non-critical patients, who need treatment, could be kept in isolation.

The KMC has also started procuring oxygen concentrators to meet the shortage of medical oxygen.

“I have already advised the KMC to immediately place the order for 100 oxygen concentrators. We would procure up to 500 as the demand rises,” said Firhad Hakim, state urban development minister.

On Friday West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Union government was diverting the state’s quota of medical oxygen to Uttar Pradesh.

“As per the current patient load and rising trend of infections, it is expected that the consumption level of oxygen in the state will radically rise to roughly 450 MT per day in the next couple of weeks. Hence present allocation of liquid oxygen to outside West Bengal will jeopardize the treatment of Covid-19 patients. The state government has accordingly requested the centre to consider the need of the state and not to divert the medical oxygen available in the state to elsewhere,” said a statement released by the state government on Friday.

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Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/kolkata-news/kolkata-civic-body-urges-rwas-to-set-up-safe-homes-for-covid-19-patients-101619261220367.html