On Sunday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, visited a dedicated COVID-19 Health Centre at Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Ayurved Charak Sansthan (CBPACS) in Delhi”s Najafgarh, the first Ayurveda hospital of India to provide Covid care, where he assessed the arrangements at the Centre for treatment of COVID-19 patients. He interacted with the team of doctors and enquired about the wellbeing of COVID positive patients. He sought their feedback about the facilities available at the COVID-19 Health Centre and the outcome of treatment by Ayurvedic medicines. He also emphasised on the significance of Ayurveda.
While commending the role of Ayurveda, Harsh Vardhan said, “It is heartening to know the positive feedback of the Covid-19 patients here.”
“Ayurveda is a traditional medicinal knowledge source from India and there is huge potential in it. Its inherent strength in holistic healing and wellbeing which is being put to good use in the treatment of the COVID-19 patients at this DCHC. This knowledge and experience will surely prove beneficial to people all over the world, especially in combating COVID-19,” he added.
Talking about India”s response to COVID-19, he said, “We have today 422 government laboratories and 177 private laboratory chains. The testing capacity has also been ramped up in both, and as on date, around 1,50,000 tests can be conducted every day. Yesterday itself, we conducted 1,10,397 tests. Till yesterday, we have conducted 29,44,874 tests.”
He also affirmed for the bolstered health infrastructure that has been put in place. “A total of 968 dedicated COVID hospitals have been identified across the country with 2,50,397 beds; 2,065 dedicated COVID health Centres with 1,76,946 beds and, 7,063 COVID care centres with 6,46,438 beds,” said Vardhan.
Apprising about the healthcare infrastructure set up across the country, he said, “Adequate healthcare infrastructure and facilities have been set-up across the country for COVID-19 management. These have been divided into three categories viz. Dedicated COVID Hospitals (DCHs), Dedicated COVID Health Centres (DCHCs) and COVID Care Centres (CCCs) with an adequate number of isolation beds, ICU beds and other facilities.”
Talking about the protective equipment, he said, “The country is now making a sufficient number of N95 masks and PPE through the ramped up domestic manufacturing sector, and the requirements of the states are being sufficiently met”, he stated. He further stated that States/UTs, as well as Central Institutions, have been provided with nearly 109.08 lakhs N-95 masks and approximately 72.8 lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Speaking about the doubling rate, the minister stated that the condition has picked up due to the lockdown.
Till date, a total of 201 patients have been hospitalized in CBPACS Centre. Out of these, 37 patients have been recovered and 100 patients have been advised home isolation. On the review of the medical condition, At least 19 patients have been shifted to Specialty hospitals. No casualty has been there in this Centre.
Of the total capacity of 270 beds in this facility, 135 beds are reserved for COVID-19 patients
Out of the total capacity of 270 beds in this facility, 135 beds are retained for COVID-19 patients strictly adhering all the norms and guidelines issued from time to time concerning the care of patients with asymptomatic, mild and moderate symptoms.
A holistic approach is observed for treatment of COVID-19 patients following the protocol of the Ministry of AYUSH at CBPACS. Besides Ayurvedic and herbal treatments, the holistic approach also includes yoga, meditation, Pranayam, etc.
Dr R.K. Manchanda, Director (AYUSH), GNCTD, Dr Vidula Gujjarwar, Director-Principal, CBPACS along with senior faculty and doctors and Ministry officials were also present during the review meeting.
