NEW DELHI: Further ramping up medical facilities as part of their overall major mobilization to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, the armed forces have dedicated 19 hospitals solely for civilian as well as military Covid-19 patients in different parts of the country.These 19 “dedicated” hospitals -- with 4,182 general beds, 192 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 393 high dependency unit (HDU) beds -- are in addition to the 31 other military hospitals already earmarked with separate wards and barracks to treat Covid-19 patients.“All these 50 hospitals, with well over 10,000 beds, are present in different zones of the country to help civil administrations in treating and controlling the spread of coronavirus,” said a senior officer on Saturday.The “dedicated” Army hospitals are at Ahmedabad, Belgaum, Golconda, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Nasirabad, Saugor, Panagarh, Shillong, Patiala, Palampur, Pune and Lucknow. “The collective capacity of these 13 hospitals is over 3,000 beds with another 370 beds in ICU and HDU units,” said Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand.The “dedicated” IAF and Navy hospitals, in turn, are at Bengaluru, Hindon, Kalaikunda, Karwar, Chilka and Visakhapatnam. The other 31 military hospitals have set up separate facilities to treat Covid-19 cases, while continuing to deal with other patients as before.The armed forces are also already conducting Covid-19 tests in five major hospitals, including the apex Army Hospital (Research and Referral) in Delhi and the Armed Forces Medical College at Pune, as part of the national grid set up for testing in the country. “Six more military hospitals are being equipped with the resources to begin Covid-19 testing,” said another officer.Overall, the armed forces have gone in for a major mobilization to combat the spread of coronavirus in the country, apart from the medical facilities, while continuing to maintain their operational readiness along the borders with China and Pakistan.The IAF, for instance, has airlifted over 60 tonnes of medical supplies, including medicines, personal protective equipment, hand sanitizers, surgical gloves and thermal scanners, to different parts of the country.The armed forces were, of course, the first ones to set up quarantine facilities for Indian nationals being evacuated from China, Japan, Italy, Iran and Malaysia.The six quarantine facilities established at Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Chennai, Manesar , Hindon and Mumbai, with another 15 kept on the standby, have handled over 1,800 people till now.Major Military Mobilization:-Army, Navy & IAF first to set up quarantine facilities for Indians being evacuated from China, Japan, Italy, Iran & Malaysia-Running 6 quarantine facilities at Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Chennai, Manesar, Hindon & Mumbai. Another 15 kept ready-19 military hospitals dedicated solely for Covid-19 patients in addition to the 31 hospitals earlier earmarked for them with separate barracks-Covid-19 tests being undertaken at 5 military hospitals, with 6 more getting ready for them-IAF has airlifted over 60 tonnes of medical supplies. Keeping 28 aircraft & 21 helicopters on hot standby-IAF deployed C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft to China & Iran to evacuate Indian nationals & ferry medical supplies-C-130J aircraft airlifted 6.2 tonnes of essential medicines & hospital consumables to Maldives-Navy keeping 6 warships on standby for assistance to neighbouring countries-Military medical teams kept ready for deployment in Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan & Afghanistan-DRDO has supplied over 1.5 lakh litres of sanitizers to different organizations-DRDO making five-layered nano technology N99 face masks & PPE (personal protective equipment) on war-footing-Ordnance factories have ramped up production of sanitizers, masks & body suits, while BEL is making ventilators-Defence ministry has mobilized 25,000 senior division NCC volunteer cadets & thousands of ex-servicemen to help state administrations