The Ranchi district administration, exploring various options to create more facilities for the care and treatment of Covid patients, is considering acquiring hotels to lodge those with no or mild symptoms.

Deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan held a meeting with representatives of various hospitals on Monday to ask them to talk to hoteliers and chalk out modalities. “Hotels, with their ready infrastructure, will help us keep asymptomatic patients while respective hospitals tagged with each can take care of medical needs,” he said.

Telegraph Online has reported how as many as 30 special railway coaches with the capacity to accommodate at least 480 Covid-19 patients are ready for use at Hatia station. These, the district administration has conformed, would be used to house those with mild or moderate symptoms.

Sources in the district administration said on Tuesday that they had also identified 10 more buildings to convert them into Covid care centres where non-critical patients or suspected Covid patients can be kept.

Deputy development commissioner Ananya Mittal said they were planning to outsource the upkeep of these new facilities and other amenities on offer, including food. On Tuesday, the district health department floated a tender inviting applications from interested private players to bid for managing the new Covid care centres. The bids will be opened on July 23.

“The chosen agency will take care of everything except medical infrastructure at the upcoming Covid care centres, right from housekeeping to food and lodging requirements. The district administration will only deploy medical infrastructure and manpower for attending to patients. The idea is to have these ready before cases spiral,” she said.

Mittal said that three layers of facilities were being worked out for the capital. These include Covid care centres, moderate care centres, asymptomatic care centred. Under moderate care centre, two hospitals have been empanelled, Gurunanak Hospital and the government run hospital in Risaldar baba in Doranda.

For asymptomatic patients, SIRD centre and Tanabhagat Stadium at the mega sports complex in Hotwar have been identified. “Covid care centres are in the process of being setting up,” she said, adding that RIMS and Paras Hospital will continue to handle critical patients.