New Delhi, May 12 (PTI) A 500-bed ICU centre attached to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital here started operations on Wednesday.

Dr Ashok Kumar Saxena, the nodal officer of the centre, said the hospital has deployed enough manpower, including senior doctors, 120 junior residents and 300 nurses, to look after patients at the facility.

Dr Saxena, however, did not divulge how many patients were admitted to the facility on the first day.

Another official said there are around 300 beds unoccupied at the facility.

Officials at the 400-bed Guru Tegh Bahadur COVID Care Centre at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in central Delhi said around 80 patients are undergoing treatment there at present.

One patient has been discharged and seven critical patients have been shifted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, said Nem Singh Premi, chairman International Human Rights Organisation, a Delhi-based NGO that has provided doctors and health workers for the facility.

The facility, which had become operational on Monday, is being managed by 50 doctors and 150 nurses.

Meanwhile, an official said 17 patients have been admitted to the COVID care centre that started at Mount Carmel School on Monday.

"There are some people who come and take oxygen for three-four hours and then leave. There are special rooms for those patients requiring oxygen for three to four hours," the official said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)