Stepping up their efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian military is preparing 15 quarantine facilities which can accommodate over 7,000 people. Of these, six each are with the Army (Babina, Jhansi, Barmer, Bhopal, Kolkata and Binnaguri) and the IAF (Bhatinda, Hyderabad, Deolali, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Agra) while three are with the Navy (Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Chilka).
These are in addition to the existing six quarantine facilities run by the armed forces in in Mumbai, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Hindon, Manesar and Chennai. A total of 1,737 people have been isolated in these facilities, of which 403 have been discharged.
According to a senior defence ministry official, dedicated COVID-19 facilities, including High Dependency Units and ICUs, are being prepared in 51 military hospitals across the country.
The transport fleet of the IAF is being used to assist in transportation of essential supplies, medicines and medical equipment within the country. So far, the IAF has airlifted 60 tonnes of stores to various parts of the country.
"Thirty fixed-wing aircraft and 28 helicopters of the IAF are on standby at various locations across the country to ferry essential equipment and personnel," the MoD official said.
Five viral testing labs have been activated at military hospitals in Udhampur, Lucknow, New Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru as part of the national viral testing grid. Six more such testing facilities are being prepared for viral testing.
Six Naval ships loaded with medical team and HADR bricks are kept on standby for assistance at Visakhapatam, Kochi and Mumbai to respond to any requests from neighbouring countries like Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, it said. Five medical teams are also on standby for deployment in Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan.
On Thursday, an IAF C-130 J Super Hercules has ferried 6.2 tons of medicines to Maldives under Operation Sanjeevani.
Besides, a medical team comprises of five military doctors, two nursing officers and seven paramedics were stationed in Maldives from March 13-21. The team was basically deployed in an advisory role to assist the Male government to set up its domestic COVID-19 protection measures.
The IAF's two C-17 flights were operated to China with 15 tonnes of medical aid, including masks, personal protective equipment and gloves, and to Iran for evacuation of Indian nationals.
