Bahrain converts parking into 130-bed COVID-19 intensive care unit in seven days

By Habib Toumi

MANAMA: Bahrain has completed converting a parking lot into a large intensive care unit (ICU) accommodating beds equipped with respiratory and reanimation equipment in seven days.

The third floor of the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) Hospital parking is now a field intensive care unit that contains 130 beds to treat cases infected with COVID-19.

The move is part of Bahrain’s preemptive measures to deal with any emergency that may arise in the health situation and the need for extra space to provide coronavirus patients with appropriate care and treatment.

“The unit is outfitted with the best equipment and according to the highest standards that consolidates the kingdom’s pioneering status in the health field,” President of the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said.

“The unit is part of the ongoing preparations of the national taskforce to provide the needed procedures to deal with infected cases. Bahrain will provide 500 beds nationwide to provide the needed treatment when required.”

Led by Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus (CIVD-19) which has been at the forefront of the national drive to curb the spread of the disease has often won international praise for its overall comprehensive approach, including the quick provision of isolation wards, and efforts to tackle the disease and to deal with its fallout.

Bahrain’s measures include using electronic tracker wristbands to ensure that people under compulsory home quarantines do not move away from the confines of their homes and launching an application that identifies contact tracing cases and alerts individuals in the event they approach an active case or a location where an active case has visited or passed by.