Paramedical personnel kept on standby as corona spurt expected in Delhi

New Delhi: Anticipating a sharp increase in the number of corona cases in the national capital this month, the Union Home Ministry has decided to keep 500 medical personnel from the paramilitary forces and the Army on standby. These will be in addition to the nearly 1,000 paramedics that have already been deputed at various locations in Delhi.

Medical teams from the forces have been providing support to the Delhi government in dealing with the corona crisis as cases continue to rise with the rate of testing.

 As of now most of the paramedic teams from security forces have been deployed at the 10,000-bed COVID hospital -- said to the biggest such facility in the world -- which has been set up at the Radha Soami Satsang in Delhi.

These medical teams are also managing the 500 railway coaches that have been converted into corona wards and parked at the Anand Vihar railway station.

Now the Home Ministry is anticipating that corona cases would increase rapidly in the days ahead as testing is now being done more aggressively. 

Officials said not only additional beds but healthcare professionals would also be required and the paramilitary forces are ready to hand. In fact, security forces like the ITBP have been providing facilities for corona patients, both quarantine and treatment, in Delhi. Others like CRPF and BSF too have joined the effort and deployed their medical teams at different locations.