As educational institutes have stepped forward to do their bit in helping patients affected by Covid-19, IIT Gandhinagar has released a whitepaper that can act as a set of guidelines for educational institutes to follow while setting up Covid-care centres.

The institute had converted its Guesthouse to a Covid care facility in April, catering to over 240 patients, a strategy now being advocated by the Health Ministry in its latest guidelines issued on 17th May 2021

IIT believes that if educational institutes can follow a set of guidelines and set up Covid facilities, the burden on the healthcare facilities can be reduced.

Covid Care Facility here provides hard-to-access health services in the current scenario, such as oxygen contractors, respirators, and basic health services, up to the point that the patient required hospitalization.

Prof. Sudhir Jain, Director, IIT Gandhinagar, said, “At IIT Gandhinagar , we did not have the benefit of a guiding document or a Standard Operating Procedure that we could follow at the start. We evolved with every challenge and learnt lessons during the process. This Whitepaper is released with the hope that our experience and lessons can inform other institutions and organizations interested in developing similar facilities to support their communities during the pandemic. We are glad that we could do our bit to reduce the burden on the medical infrastructure of the state and at the same time provide safe and critical medical care for Covid patients in our community.”

Schools across the country have transformed into waiting halls, isolation wards and quarantine facilities for patients. While some schools have offered oxygen beds to patients who not-so-severe symptoms, some others have been offering beds for asymptomatic patients.

For instance, Venkateshwar Global School has collaborated with the Delhi government to extend support to Covid patients. In collaboration with Bhagawati Hospital, Rohini, the school building has been converted into a Covid Care Centre.

In 18 rooms spread across three floors, over 75 beds have been laid out to accommodate Covid patients in the school premises.  

In another educational institute, 21 Oxygen beds have been set up for patients who await a bed. At Sindhi high school Hebbal in Bengaluru, a tea, of volunteers from CV7 has set up a facility at the golden jubilee hall.

Suhas Manjunath, one of the volunteers said, “We have 21 oxygen beds in all. The facility is operational only between 9 am and 9 pm. Patients get that buffer to look for a hospital bed while availing oxygen here but cannot stay put overnight. We have a tie-up with Medstar hospital and in case a patient is critical, they are moved here. Any positive patient with an 85-93 saturation level is taken in. Two doctors Dr Thomas Kishen and Dr Shinika attend to patients in this facility where care is given free of cost,” he said.

Patients will have to contact the volunteers beforehand as a walk-in option is not available. Contact details of volunteers- 9880976070, 9980588355, 7760889523.

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