Bhubaneswar: Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has requested his cabinet colleague and Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi to allow MCL’s Talcher hospital to function as a dedicated COVID-19 unit with ICU facilities.
“Due to the explosive resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Angul district, it is necessary to grant emergency permission for supplementing COVID-19 care at MCL’s Nehru Satabdi Central Hospital (NSCH) at Talcher with 100 ventilators,” he wrote.
He mentioned that the hospital with 144 beds and six ICU units was used for treating COVID-19 infected during the first wave of the pandemic.
“Keeping in mind the exponential rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in Angul and the limited number of COVID-19 treatment facilities in the region, it is essential to operationalize and supplement critical medical infrastructure in the region,” he added.
He also urged him to make provision of 100 ventilators at the hospital.
Angul saw 173 more people contracting the virus in the last 24 hours. The district now 805 active cases.
