Rajasthan: Jodhpur Couple Converts Private School Into Mini COVID Care Centre

As people continue to struggle with hospital beds due to the sudden surge in cases amid the second wave of CVOID-19 pandemic, a Jodhpur couple has converted a private school into a mini COVID care centre.

Raju Vyas, and his wife Chandra Harsh, have converted a part of Surajdevi Roopa Devi Pushtikar, a private school run by the Pushkarna community, into a COVID care centre by providing medicines, treatment and oxygen- equipped beds.

Raju Vyas is a headmaster at a government school at Pratap Nagar, while his wife Chandra is a Grade One nurse at the Ummed Hospital.

Currently, Jodhpur has reported 24,797 active cases and 776 deaths. "In the old city of Jodhpur, most homes are smaller, and if a person gets infected, it is very difficult to isolate the patient. All the 135 patients who were kept in isolation at our school last year had fully recovered," Raju Vyas told The New Indian Express.

The centre is located in the city's Siwanchi Gate area and looks after 18 patients, and is ready to house 50 beds after the government's go ahead. The care centre has been approved by the Jodhpur Collector and the CMHO and has provided a doctor and three nursing employees.

"Most patients get treated at home, but what happens when someone's oxygen level drops below 94, and they are unable to find an oxygen bed in a city hospitals? Our centre then provides a valuable service," Chandra said.

The couple has also made special arrangements for medical oxygen with the help of local doctors in the community. Currently, they have 20 oxygen cylinders but have arranged for two more cylinders for each patient.

Besides providing free medicines to walk-in corona patients, the centre also has two ambulances to transport their patients. Local donors provide food for the patients. The government has now converted the centre into a vaccination facility.