Gujarat businessman turns office premises to 85-bed COVID-19 facility for needy in Surat

A Surat-based businessman who recovered from the novel coronavirus infection has converted his office premises into an 85-bed facility to provide free treatment for the poor. Kadar Shaikh who contracted the virus was admitted to a private hospital last month for 20 days. Shaikh was horrified by the exorbitant bill given by the private hospital in Surat. This instance made him realise that COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals is next to impossible for the underprivileged people.

After recovering from the illness Shaikh decided to turn his office space at Shreyam Complex a 30,000-square-feet (2,800-square-metre) area into COVID-19 facility for the needy as the public hospitals are struggling to cope with the increasing number of cases on daily bases.

READ | Gujarat: 291 new coronavirus cases in Surat district, 11 deaths

READ | Surat records 293 new coronavirus cases; 12 die, 248 recover

Shaikh has acquired all the necessary approvals from local authorities to convert his office premises. He also bought the beds and is bearing the cost of bed linen and electricity. Meanwhile, the government is providing and paying for the staff, medical equipment, and medicine. The COVID-19 facility is open to all, anyone can be admitted irrespective of caste, creed or religion, Shaikh told a news agency.

READ | Surat girls discover near-Earth asteroid ‘HLV2514’ which will pass Earth in distant future

COVID-19 cases in Gujarat

Gujarat’s tally crossed 60,400 as the state witnessed the highest single-day spike of 1,159 cases on Thursday. More than 27,000 of the total cases were recorded this month. Surat continues to take the lead with respect to new cases reported each day, with the district’s present tally at nearly 12,800 cases, according to Gujarat's health department report.

Ahmedabad added another 157 cases. Vadodara and Rajkot continue to see an increase each day in the new cases the two districts report. In July beginning, Vadodara used to report an average of 50-60 new cases each day while Rajkot reported daily cases between 20-30 cases. However, now Vadodara is reporting more than 90 cases each day, as of Thursday it recorded 96 positive cases whereas Rajkot reported 86 test positive, the report stated.

READ | Guj: Animal sacrifice prohibited in public in Ahmedabad, Surat

(With inputs from ANI)