Even as the COVID-19 outbreak spreads across the country, questions have been raised on whether the nation’s health infrastructure will be sufficient to treat the rising numbers of positive cases. Sources said a mention of the gap was also made during the Prime Minister’s video conference with business leaders on Monday.
Read: Tamil Nadu announces dedicated hospital for COVID-19 patients
Given the urgent need, construction giant Larsen and Toubro is among the agencies that hopes to provide expertise to build exclusive hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, in record time.
L&T CEO and M.D. S.N. Subrahmanyan told The Hindu that a task force from the company’s Buildings and Factories vertical will be capable of building a 50-100 bedded hospital from scratch with state of the art facilities within three to four months.
“We have the necessary design and capability. It is technically feasible,” he said, exuding confidence at completing the task.
Following the novel coronavirus outbreak and rapid spread, China had built a large health facility with space for 1,000 beds, within 10 days in Wuhan. “With this kind of emergency building happening in the rest of the world, we have been thinking of our capabilities here. In fact, in India, we have done other projects, building structures rapidly, in record time. And so, we started thinking about building a hospital too,” Mr. Subrahmanyan said.
Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India
He says the team has plans and models ready and would be able to complete construction within the promised time.
He added that the company also had the plans, wherewithal, capability and methodology to quickly convert, if needed, marriage halls or other existing structures, into a hospital with necessary infrastructure.
