Delhi govt makes oxygen saturation check mandatory for Covid tests; warns hospitals against denial of beds

With Delhi recording an average of 6,898 cases every day over the past seven days, the government also warned all hospitals against denial of beds to Covid-19 patients.

The Delhi government has made it mandatory for all hospitals and laboratories to record blood oxygen saturation levels of every person being tested for the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease in a bid to ensure needy patients get medical attention on time.

A health worker in PPE coveralls collects a swab sample from a woman for coronavirus testing, in Mehrauli, New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

With Delhi recording an average of 6,898 cases every day over the past seven days, the government also warned all hospitals against denial of beds to Covid-19 patients.

The new directives, aimed at easing the chaos at hospitals and preventing Covid-19 deaths, were issued in the form of two orders issued by the state health department on Monday.

“It has been noticed that many people are approaching the hospitals, having already progressed to either moderate or severe categories of Covid-19 illness… Early identification of not only those with detectable infection (via testing), but also those at increased risk of developing complications or progressing to moderate to severe disease, shall help us reduce Covid-19 associated complications and deaths,” read the order, which made it mandatory for hospitals and labs to check the oxygen saturation level of people taking a Covid-19 test.

The rule will apply to all government and private hospitals and laboratories as well as sample collection centres -- all of whom will have to record the oxygen saturation level on OPD slips. It will have to be followed for both rapid antigen tests (RAT) and RT-PCR tests.

“In case, oxygen saturation is found to be less than 94%, the client be mandatorily advised to be examined by a doctor,” the order read.

On Tuesday, Delhi recorded 7,830 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the city’s total tally to 451,382, including 402,854 recoveries and 7143 deaths.

Delhi had on Sunday recorded a spike of 7,745 new cases after which the Union health ministry said the national Capital had overtaken Maharashtra and Kerala to become the largest contributor towards the daily Covid-19 tally of the country.

NO BED REFUSAL, NO PATIENT TRANSFER WITHOUT CONFIRMATION

In a bid to address the repeated complaints of Covid patients being refused a bed or serious Covid patients being shifted from one hospital to another because of the scarcity of ICU beds, the Delhi government issued another order, warning health facilities against such as practice.

“Instances of Covid-19 designated hospitals refusing admissions to Covid-19 cases/suspected Covid-19 cases even when there is a vacancy available have been brought to the notice of the competent authority. Further, it has been noticed that the patient has to approach multiple hospitals before getting himself/herself admitted,” read the order, seen by HT.

Seeking “most strict compliance” of the order, the government directed that no Covid-19 patient should be refused admission if a bed is available in a hospital. It ordered that a patient under critical care should only be transferred with the prior confirmation of the referral hospital and under emergent need.

“Also, it has been learnt that some critical patients are also being transferred from one hospital to another without ascertaining the availability of vacant critical care bed/infrastructure or bringing to knowledge of the referral hospital regarding the referral being made and reasons there off. All this may put the life of the patient in jeopardy...,” the order stated.

As cases surge in the national capital, there has been an increase in the occupancy of hospital beds. On Tuesday evening, less than half of Covid-19 hospital beds in Delhi were vacant, according to the state government’s Delhi Corona mobile application.

Of 16,375 beds earmarked to treat patients with the disease, 8,026 were vacant, of which only 191 ICU beds with ventilators and 335 ICU beds without ventilators were available.