L&T converts under-construction govt healthcare units into coronavirus care facilities

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Monday said that its construction arm has converted under-construction government healthcare units into coronavirus patient care facilities. The Building and Factories business of L&T also said that it could transform large establishments such as marriage halls, schools and hotel rooms quickly into isolation wards. "The construction arm of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) turned around large-scale healthcare infrastructure into COVID-19 care facilities in New Delhi, Champaran and Madhepura in Bihar, Puducherry, Diamond Harbour in West Bengal and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh," L&T also said in a regulatory filing.

"We  have ace engineering  and  construction  capabilities, yielding a fast turnaround  of  healthcare infrastructure for COVID-19 care. This is another contribution from the stable of Larsen & Toubro to India's fight against COVID-19  as  the  company  believes  in  serving  the  nation through  thick  and  thin. We  will  continue  to  accelerate  our  efforts to  aid  governments  in providing prompt relief to citizens through critical healthcare infrastructure," M  V  Satish,  Whole  Time Director  and  Senior Executive  Vice  President  (Buildings,  Minerals  &  Metals),  L&T said.

The company further said that the three floors of the L&T constructed 850 bed super specialty, Safdarjung Hospital, have been converted for the care of coronavirus patients. The ground and first floors of the Government Medical Hospital in Champaran, Bihar have been handed over to accommodate 150 beds as isolation wards, it said. In AIIMS Gorakhpur, L&T is constructing a Government Medical College with an intake capacity of 150 students per annum and a 750 bed hospital for the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

Meanwhile, India saw the highest single day spike of 8,392 new coronavirus cases and 230 deaths in the past 24 hours. The total number of cases in the country now stands at 1,90,535, including 93,322 active cases, 91,819 cured or discharged or migrated and 5,394 deaths.The country registered 8,380 new cases on Saturday.

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