Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) has come out with a Whitepaper on the COVID-19 Care Facility it established in the campus during April 2021 to tackle the surge in cases in campus and local community during the second wave.

The institute is keen that other institutions and communities across the country benefit from their experience in setting up this in-house COVID care facility and reduce the pressure on healthcare facilities across India.

Also, the Union Ministry of Health has advocated for the creation of 30-bed Covid Care Centres in schools, community halls, panchayat buildings, educational institutions, housing societies and other communities.

This will go a long way in relieving the pressure on India’s medical infrastructure, which is severely strained with shortages of beds, oxygen concentrators, oxygen tanks and respirators, among other facilities.

Explaining the motive behind developing and releasing this Whitepaper, Prof. Sudhir Jain, Director, IITGN, said, “We are experiencing an unprecedented global health crisis that demands unconventional and urgent action to support and care for each other.”

IITGN converted its newly-built guest house to a COVID care facility that served not only to provide relief to hundreds of infected members of the community but contributed in a small way to relieving the added burdens these Covid positive patients would have otherwise imposed on Ahmedabad’s and Gandhinagar’s health infrastructure.

Almost 94% of the patients housed in the Covid Care facility recovered without needing hospitalization and were released after isolation. Just 6 per cent (16 people) required hospitalization, of which six unfortunately died. At its peak, 95 Covid-19 positive patients were residents in IITGN’s isolation facility, which dwindled to just 1 on May 16.

The facility also helped patients find beds in local hospitals if needed. Counselling services offered psychological support to patients, medical staff, and their families