Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens cricket stadium is to be used as a quarantine centre for police who have the coronavirus, officials said Saturday. With the city’s hospitals under growing pressure, hundreds of beds are to be set up in the 80,000 capacity stadium.
Nearly 550 Kolkata police have tested positive for the coronavirus and two have died. “It is our duty to help and support the administration in this hour of crisis. The quarantine facility will be used for police personnel who are Covid-19 warriors,” said Cricket Association of Bengal president Avishek Dalmiya.
The beds will be put in galleries around the seating and not on the pitch that was last used by India for their first-ever day-night Test, which was against Bangladesh last November. “Such areas would be thoroughly segregated as a safety measure,” added Dalmiya.
The stadium is also used by Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders but this year’s tournament has been repeatedly postponed because of the pandemic. India’s nationwide coronavirus toll rose Saturday to 820,916 cases with 22,193 deaths.
