403 people released from six quarantine facilities run by Armed Forces

A total number of 403 people suspected of having coronavirus out of the 1,737 handled at six different quarantine facilities being run by the armed forces have been released after mandatory procedures, the Ministry of Defence said on Friday.

"Armed Forces are running six quarantine facilities at Mumbai, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Hindon, Manesar and Chennai. 1,737 persons have been handled at these centres, of which 403 have been released so far," the MoD said in a statement.

It said that the armed forces have been working round-the-clock to provide medical and logistics support to the needy to contain COVID-19 pandemic and added that the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) has deployed its resources to aid the civilian authorities.

 

"Three positive COVID cases - two from Hindan and one from Manesar - were referred to Safdarjung Hospital in the national capital for further treatment. In addition, 15 other facilities are being kept ready as standby for use, if required," the statement said.

"Dedicated COVID-19 facilities including High Dependency Units, Intensive Care Unit beds are being prepared in 51 hospitals of the armed forces across the country. Some of these facilities are located at Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Dundigal near Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kanpur, Jaisalmer, Jorhat and Gorakhpur," it added.

Five viral testing labs at armed forces hospitals, which can carry out COVID-19 tests, have also been made part of the national grid.

Meanwhile, special flights of Indian Air Force have evacuated people and carried medical supplies and a C-17 Globemaster III comprising of crew, medical team and support staff has carried 15 tonnes of medical supplies to China and airlifted 125 persons, including five children comprising Indian nationals and few citizens from friendly countries on its return.

The C-17 Globemaster III has also made a journey to Iran and brought back 58 stranded Indians that included 31 women and two children. The aircraft has also brought 529 samples for COVID-19 investigation.

A C-130J Super Hercules aircraft also ferried around 6.2 tonnes of medicines to the Maldives, the statement said.

The transport fleet of IAF is being used to assist in the transportation of essential supplies, medicines and medical equipment while six naval ships are kept ready for assistance to neighbouring countries.