DRDO team visits Patna to select site for setting up 500-bed COVID hospital

A DRDO team has visited Bihar's Patna district to find a suitable location for setting up a 500-bed temporary COVID-19 hospital, officials said on Monday.

The hospital, to be built on the lines of another facility set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Delhi, will cater to COVID-19 patients in Patna and its adjoining districts, they said.

The DRDO team, accompanied by the Patna district magistrate, had on Sunday explored several locations including the area near the Veterinary College and several sites in Bihta, 35 km southwest of the state capital, a release said.

DRDO officials had on Saturday visited four locations in Muzaffarpur district to select a site for setting up a similar temporary COVID hospital that will cater to coronavirus patients in north Bihar.

They had explored Chakkar Maidan, Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology (MIT), Patahi airport and the CRPF camp at Jhapahan area in the district for the purpose.

The state has registered 38,919 COVID-19 cases till Sunday evening. A total of 12,361 cases are active, while 26,308 people have recovered and 249 patients have died, as per a health department bulletin.