A Covid care centre with 300 dedicated beds for symptomatic and severely-ill patients is set to come up at the Sadar Hospital in Ranchi by mid-October, officials said on Tuesday.

Ranchi Deputy Development Commissioner Ananya Mittal told this correspondent that the facility will have 30 beds with ventilators, while all the remaining 270 beds will have oxygen support. Once ready it will be the largest such facility in the state.

“The dedicated Covid care facility will come up on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the hospital. Only symptomatic patients will be treated in this facility,” she said.

This Covid care centre will have a separate entry and exit in a bid to ensure that other departments of the hospital continue to function unhindered. Attendants and doctors visiting the Covid centre will not treat patients in the other wards of the hospital, they added.

As of now, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) has the largest Covid ward for symptomatic patients in the city. There are 100 dedicated Covid beds at RIMS.

There are more than 12,000 Covid beds in Jharkhand, including the ones for asymptomatic patients at private facilities, officials from the National Health Mission (NHM) said. However, hardly 1,000 beds were available for symptomatic patients.

The Sadar Hospital is located at a stone’s throw from Albert Ekka Chowk, the heart of the city, and is easily accessible from all parts of the state capital. Currently it has 200 beds. Of the existing 200 beds, 150 are for the maternity ward and the remaining 50 for paediatrics. At the time of its inauguration, the state government decided to exclusively treat pregnant women and newborns in the facility.

The hospital already has a dedicated medicine OPD, a physiotherapy unit, child care OPD, an in-patient department (IPD) and ICU, female care OPD, IPD and ICU, labour room and nutrition unit.

“The Covid care centre should be ready for patients by October 15. It will be the largest Covid care centre for symptomatic patients in Jharkhand so far,” said the DDC.

At present, Covid patients suffering from severe symptoms undergo treatment either at RIMS or private hospitals. Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Ranchi has dedicated ICU beds for Covid patients. The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur also have dedicated wards for symptomatic Covid patients.

As per latest figures with the NHM, there were 10,436 active Covid cases in Jharkhand. As many as 88,026 people have been found infected across Jharkhand so far and 76,843 of them have recovered. The virus has claimed the lives of at least 747 people in the state.