India recalls retired military medics to join battle against Covid
India has been logging over 3 lakh daily coronavirus cases for several days. On Monday, it reported 3.52 lakh fresh cases and over 2,800 deaths in the last 24 hours
India will recall all medical personnel who retired from the armed forces in the last two years to work in Covid facilities near their homes, the country's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
Briefing the Indian PM about the preparations made by the armed forces to help in the country's fight against the pandemic, General Rawat said oxygen cylinders available with the military will be diverted to the hospitals that desperately need the live-saving gas amid the rapid second wave of Covid infections, reports the NDTV.
Other retired medical officers have been asked to provide consultations through emergency help lines, according to a government statement.
General Rawat told Modi at the review meeting that all medical officers on staff appointments at the military headquarters will be deployed at hospitals to support the overburdened health workers.
Nursing staff will also be deployed to help doctors, he added.
The Indian CDS also said the military was creating medical facilities in large numbers and wherever possible, the infrastructure will be opened for civilians.
Indian PM Modi also reviewed the operations being undertaken by the air force to ferry oxygen and other essentials in India and abroad.
India has been logging over 3 lakh daily coronavirus cases for several days. On Monday, it reported 3.52 lakh fresh cases and over 2,800 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Due to the intense pressure exerted by the Covid caseloads, the country's health infrastructure is on the verge of collapse. Critical shortages of hospitals beds, medicines and medical oxygen have been reported in the worst-hit states, including Delhi and Maharashtra.