Pune: Jumbo Covid Care Center shuts down after last Covid-19 patient recovers 

Pune: The Jumbo Covid Care Center which was set up for free treatment of poor patients who tested positive for Covid-19, was finally shut down on Monday, (January 18). The last patient was discharged after treatment. However, the Jumbo Centre will have all the facilities on-site, and the patients will be re-admitted if the Covid-19 infections reappear, the municipal administration said.

A Jumbo Covid Care Center with a capacity of about 1,600 beds were set up in the premises of College of Engineering Pune (COEP) at Shivajinagar, Pune, and at Pimpri-Chinchwad. The facility was made available for six months in the first phase. Accordingly, the Jumbo center in COEP’s yard, which opened in August, has now been closed.

Data shows that the number of patients infected with coronavirus has been declining for the past two months. In the last phase, only 100-150 patients were admitted to the capacity of 800 beds. On the other hand, the decision to close the facility was taken by Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao last month even though it was not possible for the agency to pay for the maintenance of all the beds despite the low number of patients. Accordingly, no new patients have been admitted since January 1. Rao had also said that the jumbo center would be closed once the patients undergoing treatment recovered. The last patient recovered and was discharged home on Saturday.

Rajendra Muthe, Coordinator of Jumbo Covid Care Center said, “Currently, services in Jumbo has been suspended and will be resumed in the future if the number of Covid-19 patients increases. For this, the system in Jumbo will be in place as there has been a vaccination center set up there.