Kasaragod equips itself after border snub The government is now gearing up to build a 540-bed hospital funded by the Tata Group in less than three months

| Bangalore | Published 08.04.20, 09:03 PM

Karnataka’s decision to close roads used as medical channels appears to have spurred on the Kerala government to ramp up healthcare facilities in a district particularly affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The Kerala government fast-tracked the completion of Kasaragod Medical College Hospital in just four days and started operating the only-such facility in the northernmost district on Monday. The government is now gearing up to build a 540-bed hospital funded by the Tata Group in less than three months. The proposal for this hospital had been green-lighted before the outbreak. The two hospitals, which will initially be solely dedicated to coronavirus-infected patients, will compliment the 24 hospitals, most of them privately run, in Kasaragod district that has a population of 13 lakh people. Kasaragod had fast emerged as one of the Covid-19 hotspots with over 100 cases. Kasaragod district collector D. Sajith Babu said the Tata-funded hospital would come up on a 15-acre plot in Thekkil village. To stop the virus from spreading in Karnataka, the administration of Dakshina Kannada district had blocked all border roads, including NH66 that connects Kasaragod and Mangalore, by dumping soil in two phases from March 21. The roads, including the highway, were extensively used by Kasaragod residents to travel to Karnataka to avail themselves of better medical facilities in the immediate vicinity in Mangalore. The matter eventually reached the Supreme Court, which directed the two states to settle the dispute amicably. On Wednesday, the court allowed non-Covid-19 patients to use the highway after scrutiny at both ends at Kasaragod and Mangalore.

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