Healthcare facilities to fight potential Covid third wave given to 3 states: IBM

Technology major IBM said that it has provided healthcare facilities in three states to help them fight a potential third wave of Covid-19 infections. To this end, the American company said it has set up facilities like pediatric ICU beds and oxygen concentrators in Karnataka, Haryana and Uttarakhand.

IBM has provided these healthcare facilities as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative in India, in collaboration with the Nasscom Foundation.

“While a lot of relief like oxygen cylinders was coming in to address the immediate short term need, we decided to work on mid to long term requirements with the state governments," IBM India and South Asia Head-CSR Manoj Balachandran.

“All that we are doing now is obviously trying to be prepared for the third wave, hoping against hope that the third wave is not going to be as severe as the earlier one," he added.

IBM is focussing on these three states, but will re-evaluate if a third wave hits and look at other states for extending relief, Balachandra said.

In Karnataka, 45 pediatric ICU beds were provided to mitigate potential risk to children if a third wave arrives, as they are not vaccinated. These beds have been set up in CV Raman General Hospital and Sevashram Hospital in Bengaluru. The Nasscom Foundation has partnered with Rashtrotthana Parishad to get these high-end equipment installed.

IBM has deployed 122 oxygen concentrators and 125 flow meters in Cantonment General Hospital in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. It has deployed an oxygen generation plant of 200 litre per minute (LPM) capacity at Faridabad District Hospital and Community Health Centre in Haryana.

Besides, the company has provided nine ICU beds, four regular hospital beds, five high-flow nasal canula and 191 flow meters to the Faridabad District Hospital and Community Health Centre, he added.