ITBP takes over Delhi's 10,000 bed COVID-19 care centre

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police on Wednesday (June 24) took over the 10,000 bed capacity COVID-19 care centre in Delhi’s Chhatarpur area. A team of officials from the border guarding force visited the Radha Soami Beas facility and held discussions with the Delhi government as well as other stakeholders who will be partners in running the centre.

Home Minister Amit Shah had on Tuesday (June 23) said the centre has been entrusted to the ITBP. According to an ITBP officer, the force took over the COVID-19 care centre at Radha Soami Beas in Chattarpur, New Delhi on June 24.

The home ministry had delegated ITBP as the nodal agency to provide doctors and team of other professionals to the center as requested by the Delhi government.

A 2,000 bed facility is expected to be operational at the center from June 26. The total bed capacity may go upto 10,200. This will be the largest COVID-19 care centre in the national capital as well as the country.

More than 1,000 doctors of the ITBP and other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) as well as 2,000 paramedics and security staff are expected to be deployed at this facility. The south Delhi district administration will provide the administrative support to the centre.

The ITBP was the first organisation in the country to have created a 1,000 bed quarantine centre for COVID-19 patients.

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The centre in the Chhawla area of south-west Delhi has treated around 1,200 people, including 42 foreigners who were brought to India on special evacuation flights from Wuhan and Italy, after the COVID-19 outbreak few months back.

The facility is still operational and is taking care of those ITBP officers who are joining back to work after the lockdown.

It also created the first standard operating procedures (SOP) for management of the pandemic among the various CAPFs and central and state police organisations.