Selected military hospitals opened for COVID treatment of civilians
A message claiming that the Indian Army has opened all its Military Hospitals for COVID treatment of civilians is viral on social media. The message claims that the medical staff of the Army
By Newsmeter Network Published on 10 May 2021 6:06 AM GMT
HYDERABAD: A message claiming that the Indian Army has opened all its Military Hospitals for COVID treatment of civilians is viral on social media.
The message claims that the medical staff of the Army is being made available to various state governments and that the Indian Army is setting up temporary hospitals in various parts of the country. Further, a full list of Armed Forces Medical Services Hospital has been attached to the viral message.
FACT CHECK:
This claim is false. Indian Army has not announced to open all its hospitals for COVID treatment of civilians.
Taking to Twitter, Indian Army Southern Command, Pune termed the message as "Fake". Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (India Army) also termed the message as fake.
The officials clarified that the Ministry of Defence has given its approval to the Indian army for a total of 50 Armed Forces Medical Services- AFMS Hospitals designated as dedicated and mixed hospitals. It includes five Air Force, 42 Army, and three Navy.
Apart from the entitled clientele of Armed Forces Medical Services, the serving personnel, dependents, veterans, and their dependents, civilians will also be admitted through the referral by the local health authority after ascertaining the availability of beds at these facilities.
As per the officials, the hospitals have a combined bed capacity of 9,038 patients, and that the civilians will also be admitted as there is a spike in COVID-19 cases and the hospitals will augment the state healthcare facilities.
Indian Army has not opened up all its military hospitals for the civilians for COVID treatment. The viral message is fake. It has also been reported by ABP LIVE.
