Country’s biggest Covid hospital opens in capital

The Covid-19 hospital at Dhaka North City Corporation's Mohakhali market was launched yesterday.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the country's largest Covid-19 dedicated hospital as chief guest.

The hospital is expected to bring relief to patients, as healthcare facilities struggle to accommodate the rising number of Covid-19 patients.

Initially, there will be 50 ICU beds, 50 emergency beds, and 150 general beds available from today, while 130 doctors, 200 nurses, 300 other staffers, and 100 army personnel have been assigned for the hospital.

"Oxygen support is the key to treating Covid-19 patients. We have ensured this arrangement in this hospital," Zahid Maleque said.

He said, "Service to Covid-19 patients will be upgraded through launching this hospital. There will be 112 ICU beds in this hospital, 100 beds in the high dependency unit, and 250 special beds."

"There is supply of central oxygen in other (250) beds too, where using high flow nasal cannula is also possible. In other beds, we have arranged oxygen concentrators," he added.

Mentioning that the hospital has equal number of ICU beds in all Covid-19 hospitals in Dhaka city combined, he said, "There are 500 beds equivalent to ICU beds."

About the second wave of coronavirus infection, the minister said, "The number of Covid-19 patients in the hospitals in last 20 days have surpassed the number of patients in the previous ten months."

The dedicated hospital will also has 540 isolated high care rooms for Covid-19 patients.

"We are running the hospital now with 50 bed-ICU facilities. We are expecting full-fledged operation by April 29, after appointing more manpower and arranging other facilities," Brig Gen AKM Nasir Uddin, director of the hospital, told The Daily Star recently.