This story is from September 22, 2020

Space for yoga, music, books at Dhanbad Covid care centre

In probably the first such facility in any semi-urban area of the country, a dedicated 300-bed Covid care centre equipped with a music room, library and yoga centre was opened in Dhanbad on Monday for treatment of asymptomatic patients and those with mild symptoms.
Space for yoga, music, books at Dhanbad Covid care centre
<p>Medicos said the aim of the centre is to dispel the negativity that fills Covid patients once they test positive<br></p>
DHANBAD: In probably the first such facility in any semi-urban area of the country, a dedicated 300-bed Covid care centre equipped with a music room, library and yoga centre was opened in Dhanbad on Monday for treatment of asymptomatic patients and those with mild symptoms.
Located in the PG Hospital block at Patliputra Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), the centre has been developed with corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds from Maithon Power Limited (MPL), a joint venture of Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation.
The centre was inaugurated by MPL’s human resources head Mritunjay Rai and PMCH’s orthopaedics department chief Dr D P Bhushan, who is also the nodal officer of the centre.
Bhushan said, “The aim is to dispel the negativity that fills Covid patients once they test positive. Yoga, music and books will bring positivity and play a crucial role in their treatment.”
He added, “In the well-ventilated and airy music room, patients can connect their mobile phones to a Bluetooth speaker and listen to music of their choice. One of our employees, Amit Vishal Sinha, who runs a gym at the hospital and is also a yoga expert, will run the yoga centre as exercise can provide help the patients get a break from the mundane routine and keep them occupied."
“The library is primarily for elderly patients as the younger ones are more attached to their gadgets. We will be keeping literary classics, comics and non-fiction books about religion and history among others. While most books will be provided by the administration, we will also appeal to the people to donate for the library, which will become a permanent facility at the hospital once the pandemic is over.
As of Monday morning, Dhanbad was the third on the list of most affected districts behind Ranchi and East Singhbhum with a cumulative caseload of 4,450. Of these, 891 are active cases, 3,505 have recovered and 54 have died.

Dhanbad DC Uma Shankar Singh hailed MPL, led by CEO, Sanjay Jha and said the district administration is committed to provide the best treatment to patients. He said only 100 beds were available for the Covid patients at the dedicated Covid hospital at Jagjivan Nagar in Dhanbad until two month ago and the number has been increased to 1,005 at nine facilities till date.
Singh said plasma therapy for serious Covid patients is likely to be launched at PMCH next week as all necessary infrastructure and arrangements, including training of doctors, nurses and lab technicians, is complete. A license for the formal launch of plasma therapy is pending, he said
He said rapid antigen test camps for suspected cases are being organized at 59 vulnerable areas of the district on a daily basis since September 15 and it was extended to 15 new zones on Monday. He also appealed to the residents to participate in testing drives and help the administration identify patients for timely treatment.
Notably, two blocks of the PG Hospital block have been used to develop the centre while two other blocks are reserved for development of more facilities during the time of need.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA