From ferrying oxygen containers, setting up special hospitals and opening up health facilities of defence public sector undertakings and Ordnance Factory Boards for all Covid-19 patients, the armed forces were pulling out all stops in the fight against the raging pandemic.
Indian Air Force C-17 transport aircraft flew to Singapore on Saturday and brought back four cryogenic oxygen tanks, which are in short supply, to ferry the life-saving gas to hospitals across the country.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting of top defence ministry and armed forces officers and decided to open all health facilities of defence public sector undertakings and Ordnance Factory Board to civilians for treatment of Covid-19.
He said the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is adding another 250 beds by Saturday evening at its Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid Hospital near the Delhi airport, taking the total number of beds at the facility to 500.
Singh said a 1,000-bed hospital has already become operational in Gujarat.
Singh said work is in full swing to establish a Covid-19 treatment facility in Lucknow that would become operational in the next five-six days, adding the hospitals would be run by the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) in coordination with the Uttar Pradesh government.
The three services as well as other wings of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been extending support to various state governments and union territories in dealing with massive spike in coronavirus cases.
Since Friday, the Indian Air Force airlifted empty oxygen tankers and containers to various filling stations across the country to speed up the distribution of the much-needed medical oxygen in treating Covid-19 patients.
The Armed Forces Medical Services have deployed health professionals at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid-19 hospital in Chhattarpur in the national capital.
The ministry is also planning to enlist local doctors and health professionals for the 750-bed hospital being established at Varanasi.