Bengaluru, May 18: The Karnataka government has urged the Centre to consider setting up Covid Care Centers in the state with the help of the Ministry of Defence or Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

In a a letter to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi said the Department of Defence has a large land bank in Bengaluru and Belagavi, which is suitable for the said cause.

Referring to DRDO's initiative in setting up exclusive COVID hospitals and medical centers in Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi and Ahmedabad, he said due to a surge in coronavirus cases in Karnataka, hospitals here are facing tremendous pressure and overloaded. COVID-19 in India: 270 Doctors Have Died of Coronavirus in Second Wave of Pandemic, Says IMA.

Setting up of such covid treatment centers in Bengaluru and Belagavi will not only help patients in the region but will further ease the pressure on existing hospitals and medical professionals, Savadi noted and requested the Defence Minister to kindly consider it on priority basis.

Karnataka on Monday registered 38,603 new cases of COVID-19 and 476 fatalities, taking the total infection count to 22.42 lakh and the toll to 22,313.

Out of the 38,603 fresh cases reported, 13,338 were from Bengaluru Urban alone.