DRDO team visits Bihar's Muzaffarpur to select site for setting up 500-bed COVID hospital

MUZAFFARPUR: A two-member team of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) visited Bihar's Muzaffarpur district to find a suitable location for setting up a 500-bed temporary COVID-19 hospital, an official said on Sunday.
The hospital, to be built on the lines of another facility set up by the DRDO in Delhi, will cater to coronavirus patients in north Bihar, he said.

The DRDO team, accompanied by district administration officials, explored four sites in Muzaffarpur on Saturday -- Chakkar Maidan, Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology (MIT), Patahi airport and CRPF camp at Jhapahan, District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh said.

Once the site is chosen, work will begin immediately, and the facility is likely to get operational in a matter of 15 days, he said.

Of the 500 beds at the hospital, at least 150 will be equipped with ventilators, Singh added.

Bihar has recorded 36,314 cases so far. Over 230 have succumbed to the disease, while 24,520 people have recovered.