District Minister inspects 530-bed facility along with DC

Mysore/Mysuru: A full-fledged COVID Care Centre (CCC) has been established at the Academic Bhavan of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) near Mysore Airport at Mandakalli. The facility has 530 beds and Coronavirus positive patients with mild symptoms will be admitted here. 

Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar visited the facility this morning along with a battery of reporters. The visit is significant as the cumulative number of positive cases has gone up to 690 and 20 persons have died so far. Total active cases at the designated COVID-19 Hospital stand at 307. 363 patients have been cured and discharged so far. 

Yesterday, Mysuru reported 57 cases and the list includes two personal secretaries of an MLA, a trainee Dy.SP and four prisoners. As the cases are increasing by the day, the necessity of care facilities too has increased and the KSOU Academic Bhavan has been converted to one such facility where patients with mild symptoms will be admitted. 

51 rooms with 10 beds each

The Academic Bhavan was inaugurated in December last year and its spacious halls in four floors have been converted as care facilities. There are 51 rooms and each room has 10 beds. The Ground Floor has been converted in to a parking space and also space for doctors, nurses and care facility  administration staff. 

Each room has WiFi connectivity and each patient will be provided bandwidth for three hours per day with 12 mbps speed. 

Every room has a TV for entertainment and there are recreational facilities like chess, tennis and other indoor games. These facilities have been set up to infuse positive energy among patients and the amenities match any good private hospital. 

Green and Red Zone

There will be continuous supply of hot water for patients to drink and bathe, clean toilets 24/7 electricity with a 165 KVA generator. Patients will be provided daily food as per the Government guidelines and facilities for cleaning and washing have been set up.

While the place where the doctors and nurses will operate is marked as a Green Zone, the areas where patients are isolated have been marked as Red Zone. There will be one doctor for every 100 patients and one nurse will take care of 50 patients.

Dr. Ashok, the brain behind care facility

The seat of learning has been converted to a COVID care facility by Nirmiti Kendra in consultation with Lt. Col Dr. Ashok who has entered into Karnataka Administrative Service. He has been appointed as the Nodal Officer for the care centre. 

Dr. Ashok has innate knowledge and practical experience of setting up such medical care centre in war zones and other areas of conflict where injured soldiers are treated. He coordinated with Nirmithi Kendra Director Manjunath to modify the structure. 

Both Manjunath and Dr. Ashok were directed by the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar to coordinate and create the care facility and money has been released from District Disaster Management Fund. DC Abhiram Sankar, MLA L. Nagendra, Superintendent of Police C.B. Ryshyanth, MUDA Commissioner Dr. D.B. Natesh and others were present.