The state government has converted Uttirna, a six-storey building next to Women’s Correctional Home in Alipore, into a safe home to accommodate Covid-19 patients.
The Alipore Road cultural complex has an open-air theatre, guest rooms, dormitories and a 10,000-square foot office space.The safe home to be set up in the building will be run jointly by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and the Covid Care Network, an organisation of health officials, doctors and those who have recovered from the coronavirus disease.
Here’s a lowdown on some safe homes
Uttirna
Capacity: 90 beds on the third floor of the building to begin with. The capacity will be scaled up to 500 beds.
The fourth floor will be reserved for women patients. Two other floors will also be made ready over the next two weeks to accommodate more patients.
“Our aim is to gradually scale up the number of beds,” said Satyarup Siddhanta of the Covid Care Network. “Once we do that, Uttirna will accommodate patients admitted in hospitals but whose condition has stabilised. This will create room for more serious patients in hospitals.”
Near Park Circus
Capacity: 200 beds on the second floor of a building on the Park Circus connector. More beds can be set up on another floor.
Anandapur
Capacity: 700 beds across three floors in the safe home. The fourth floor of the building off EM Bypass will be dedicated to doctors and nurses. Patients can be accommodated over the next few days.
Gitanjali Stadium
Capacity: 200 beds in the safe home at the stadium. The facility at the stadium adjoining Acropolis Mall, on the Rashbehari connector, is being readied.
Quarantine centre
Capacity: 200 beds at the institutional quarantine centre at Kishore Bharati Stadium, Santoshpur. The capacity will be scaled up.
Who will be admitted?
Asymptomatic Covid-19 patients who cannot isolate themselves at home or lack a full time caregiver. In some cases, patients with very mild symptoms will be accommodated, too.
How will they get admitted?
Once a person tests positive, doctors in the civic ward where the patient lives, will get in touch with him or her to know about the health condition.
Health officials in the borough office, too, will contact the person. Finally, someone from Swasthya Bhavan will connect with the person and find out the symptoms and whether he/she has comorbidities or not. After that a decision will be taken on whether the patient can be admitted to a safe home.
What next
“Once a person is identified as asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and he or she lacks space at home to stay isolated, an ambulance will take him or her to the nearest safe home,” said a CMC official.
Will the patient have to pay?
No. The cost will be borne by the state government?
When will the patient be discharged?
The decision will be taken by a team of doctors that will monitor the patient’s condition. If the condition worsens, the patient will be shifted to hospital.
