Assam's 40-bed COVID-19 hospital for pregnant women & kids nears completion

Guwahati: The 40-bed COVID-19 hospital dedicated only to pregnant women and kids that is being set up the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Institute (MMCH) in Guwahati's Panbazar area is nearing completion.

Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today visited the facility to check the progress of the ongoing works. In some pictures that the minister posted on his official twitter handle, he can be seen inspecting playrooms complete with slides, see-saws, and other amenities that have been set up for the kids to make their stay enjoyable. For the women, separate chambers for breastfeeding have been set up at the MMCH facility.

"Pleased to share that a 40-bed dedicated #Covid19 Hospital only for women and children at MMCH will get functional soon. Visited the Hospital and reviewed ongoing work and facilities", the minister wrote in a tweet. According to the health minister, this is a first-of-its-kind dedicated Covid care centre in the country.

Assam is setting up a Covid care centre dedicated to pregnant women and children below 12 years and a geriatric Covid care centre for patients above the age of 65. In these dedicated hospitals, the facilities will be customized to meet the needs of these special categories of patients.

Meanwhile, the Assam state health department has ramped up its testing infrastructure to add more teeth to its fight against the COVID-19 infections that have been rising at a steady and alarming rate.

From one in February, over the next 24 weeks, the state health department managed to set up 16 Viral Research and Diagnostic (Level 2) laboratories with the manifold rise in our testing abilities.

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