PM's announcement about 1,000 hospital beds leaves Nepal Army confused

Setopati

Kathmandu, May 4

Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli's announcement on Monday about the Nepal Army (NA) being instructed to build temporary hospitals with 1,000 beds in provinces and capital has left the army confused.
The announcement which seems to have been made without consulting the NA has led to confusion whether he meant 1,000 beds across the country or just in Kathmandu.
The NA already has a total of 1,100 beds in Kathmandu Valley, Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Itahari, Dhangadi and Bardibas. It also has 16 field ambulances with capacity of 10 beds each.
An NA source confided with Setopati that all of these beds cannot be allocated for COVID-19. "We have 800,000 beneficiaries and are struggling to serve them," the source pointed. "We don't think it is possible to build temporary hospitals with beds immediately. We are talking about building holding centers. We believe that has been briefed in another manner leading to this."

Published Date: 2021-05-04 10:26:00

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