500-bed Covid centre at Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial hub

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 1

A 500-bed extended Covid care centre has been created by the local administration in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial hub to deal with the rising cases.

The space available at Government Degree College, indoor stadium and Radhasoami Satsang Bhawans at Kirpalpur, Baddi and Panjhera has been utilised, where beds and other facilities have been provided with the help of SDM, Nalagarh, Mahinder Pal.

Being a bordering industrial belt, an increase in cases has been witnessed here, which has necessitated the urgency to create sufficient beds. The daily ingress of industrial workers from heavy viral load states such as Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, and movement of trucks to states such as Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat, has made this industrial belt vulnerable to Covid.

As many as 4,805 positive cases have been reported in this industrial belt till now.

“A 66-bed ESIC hospital at Katha, a 45-bed makeshift hospital at Nalagarh and a 77-bed Covid care centre at Nalagarh are available for patients,” said the SDM.

Since many cases have been registered in rural areas, the residents have been resisting their stay at the Covid centres, which has became a cause for concern for the officials. While the industry management has begun institutional vaccination, the officials hoped that the daily ingress of workers from neigbouring states will be dealt with cautiously.