The facility was donated by Doha and arrived to the island nation on Tuesday onboard a special Qatar Airforce cargo plane.

A fully functioning 60-bed field hospital will be set up in Seychelles within two weeks, authorities said, after the Qatar-donated facility arrived to the island on Tuesday via a special Qatar Airforce cargo plane.

The field hospital was handed over to the chief executive of the Seychelles Health Care Agency, Danny Louange, by Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD)’s Yousef Ahmad Al-Mulla, at the Pointe Larue international airport in the East African island nation.

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Al-Mulla explained that there were some delays in getting the facility to the Seychelles as procedures and approvals were needed.

“When we decided to send the hospital, we thought included everything with it so that you do not need anything from the outside. You don’t need any logistics, you just take it and use it,” said Al-Mulla.

The field hospital, sent in response to a request from the Seychelles government, is equipped with 60 beds, 30 ventilators and other equipment needed such as air-conditioners and backup generators.

It also features an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with capacity to care for the critically ill.

A group of military personnel from Qatar has been dispatched to Seychelles to aid local authorities in setting up the hospital.

“The hospital will take some three to four days with our manpower, the electricity, the sanitation and after some weeks of time you can start using the hospital,” added Al-Mulla.

Louange said the field hospital will be placed at the Seychelles Coastguards base at Perseverance.

“We are planning that should there be another surge in the number of Covid-19 cases like the one we had at the beginning of the year, this hospital will be used as a stand-by. We will mainly be admitting mild to moderate cases of Covid at this hospital as this will not require as much manpower as another facility,” said Louange.

“If by chance we find that a medical situation arises we will have the space needed to care for patients,” he added.

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