As the number of COVID-19 cases rise in Gautam Budh Nagar district, the administration has begun converting government spaces into makeshift isolation wards. As of Thursday, four residents had tested positive while test results of others are awaited. A 150-bed facility was opened at the Bhimrao Ambedkar Hostel in Gautam Budh Nagar University on Thursday for patients who need to be quarantined. The single-occupancy hostel rooms have been turned into temporary isolation rooms. The rooms have a bed, a mattress, a pillow and a table. The facility has a welcome desk where two-three officials will be present to provide further information. The Additional District Magistrate and an SDM will be the nodal officers for the facility, while a senior doctor of the health department will oversee medical aspects. Medical officials will work in three shifts, with at least three doctors present at any given time. The hostel will eventually have a capacity of 300 beds, when fully functional. Patients will be kept at the facility for 14 days and if they show no symptoms, they will be discharged, officials said. Presently, 10 beds are available at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences and another nine beds in the government pediatric hospital in Sector 30. In addition to this, the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences in Sector 40 and Noida Mitra Hospital in Sector 35, both of which are dysfunctional, will also be utilised for the same. The district hospital in Sector 30, which was due for inauguration since the last one year, has arranged 350 beds for quarantine. At present, the hospital only has services for quarantine as no other departments have been set up. “We are trying to tell people to not panic. People are being brought in for quarantine only if symptoms appear or they have been in contact with a person who contracted the virus. More than 10 samples were sent after two people had tested positive. We are trying to utilise more government spaces,” said Dr Anurag Bhargava, CMO, Gautam Budh Nagar.
