Dharmendra Pradhan dedicates 100-bed COVID care facility set up by SAIL-RSP in Odisha

New Delhi: Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan dedicated to the nation, 'Ispat Nidaan Kendra,' a 100-bed COVID care facility in SAIL's Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in Odisha on Wednesday. The facility will be later scaled up to 500 beds. All the beds in this jumbo COVID-care facility have the provision of gaseous oxygen directly through a dedicated line drawn directly from the oxygen unit of the steel plant. The provision of gaseous oxygen will help in getting rid of the need to replenish cylinders and other logistic issues, besides ensuring uninterrupted availability of the life-saving gas. This jumbo facility, which has been set up within a record time, is in addition to the beds and ICU beds already made available earlier for the fight against COVID.

The virtual event was also attended by the Minister of State for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste, Odisha Health Minister Naba Kisore Das, Sundargarh MP Jual Oram, elected representatives from the area, Chairperson and CEO of SAIL Soma Mondal, and senior officers of the Ministry of Steel and SAIL.

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Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said that this massive facility will help in containing the second wave of the COVID pandemic in the Southern Rourkela region and also strengthen healthcare response in the wake of a possible third wave. The permanent facility will also be used for non-Covid treatment post the pandemic, he added.

The Minister said that SAIL's IPGI-SSH is already in the service of the COVID patients of the region. Recently, a 100-bed ICU at the hospital was pressed into service to save lives. A virology laboratory was also set up at the hospital to facilitate RT-PCR testing, whose capacity has been enhanced from 60 to about 550 per day and will be increased to 1,000 within a short time. He said that SAIL has been a frontrunner in producing and supplying liquid medical Oxygen, as well as in enhancing health and medical facilities in and around its plants. He appreciated SAIL for its tireless efforts in supplementing the government's efforts in fighting this pandemic.

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