The Government of Haryana with the support of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has dedicated a 500-bedded COVID care centre in Panipat to be named as Guru Tegh Bahadur Sanjivani COVID Hospital.

The COVID care hospital near village Baljattan, Panipat, Haryana was inaugurated by the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan and the Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal. 

Indian Oil Corporation Limited will be supplying Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to the temporary hospital near Panipat refinery named as Guru Tegh Bahadur Sanjivani COVID Hospital. 

The COVID hospital will cater to patients from nearby districts such as Panipat, Karnal, Sonipat etc., after getting the referral from the respective district civil hospital. Over 275 healthcare professionals will be manning this hospital including government doctors, doctors on internship, nurses, and nursing students. The hospital is equipped with a dedicated gaseous oxygen pipeline of 15 MT/per day maximum capacity installed by Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Panipat Refinery & Petrochemical Complex.

 Indian Oil Corporation Limited has also arranged for the stay of healthcare personnel who will work in this hospital in nearby hotels for a period of six months. 

Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan congratulated Indian Oil and Haryana Government for completing this project in such a short period. Calling COVID-19 pandemic a once in a century crisis, he said that the Government of India is making relentless efforts to fight against the second surge of COVID-19 and save lives. 

About the contribution of the petroleum sector towards India’s fight against the pandemic, Pradhan said the Petroleum Sector will also provide 2,000 beds facilities at its refineries (BPCL Bina, IOCL Panipat, BPCL Kochi, HMEL Bathinda, and CPCL Chennai). 

The minister said that the central and the state governments are working together to fulfill the requirements of oxygen, ventilators, beds and medicines. He also assured that vaccine availability will jump substantially in the next few months. The minister said the IOCL will provide free vaccination to all the stakeholders (including employees of the petrol pumps and people engaged in the LPG distribution) as well as the people living near the Panipat refinery. 

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal said that the state government has taken a number of steps to fight the second wave of COVID-19 which has spread very fast. 

He said that oxygen availability was a major constraint in the treatment of large numbers of people suffering from the disease. The setting up of COVID hospitals near the oxygen producing centres, like refinery and steel plants, is going to mitigate the problem. 

The Chief Minister congratulated various state departments and Indian Oil for operationalizing the hospital in such a short time. He said that 300 beds will be immediately available while the remaining 200 beds will become operational soon.