Action against hospitals, labs: Kejriwal's plan to step up Covid fight in Delhi

Around 24,000 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in Delhi on Saturday and nearly 19,500 cases were seen on Friday. The positivity rate has now climbed to over 24 per cent and the situation is worrying.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the Covid-19 situation of the Capital is concerning as Delhi is breaching grim milestones every day as far as the number of fresh infections is concerned. Around 24,000 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in Delhi on Saturday and nearly 19,500 cases were seen on Friday. The positivity rate has now climbed to over 24 per cent and the situation is worrying.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the weekend lockdown will be reviewed and any step will be taken to ensure the safety of the Delhi people. (PTI Photo)

Here is Delhi's present Covid-19 situation in 10 points

1. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said there is a shortage of oxygen and the antiviral drug Remdesivir in the capital.

2. Pointing out that any health infrastructure has its own limitations, Kejriwal said there are a limited number of oxygen beds and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds for the infected patients. However, he assured the Aam Aadmi Party led government is working towards increasing the number of these beds.

3. “Several steps are being taken by the Delhi government to increase the number of beds and I hope in the coming 2-4 days, we are able to increase them on a large scale,” Kejriwal said adding the main objective is to create more oxygen beds for the seriously infected patients.

4. As the cases have been spiking in Delhi, the CM said no one knows when the peak will come and there should be no laxity and all must be fully prepared to be one step ahead of the Covid-19 disease if the situation worsens.

5. Kejriwal said he spoke to Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan where he highlighted the shortage of beds in Delhi and urged Vardhan to reserve 50 per cent beds of the central government hospitals. “I spoke to the health minister over the shortage of oxygen in Delhi and requested its immediate supply. I also informed him about the shortage of the Remdesivir and Tocilizumab drugs,” Kejriwal added.

6. Amid reports there is black marketing of Covid-related medicines due to their shortage, CM Kejriwal said he directed officials to raid and order strict enquiry against such people who are engaged in hoarding and black marketing of the medicines.

7. “Delhi is the only city in India where results of Covid-19 tests would be given in 24 hours. However, there have been complaints that in recent days, it is taking 3-4 days to produce the results of these tests. The reason for this is some labs have started picking up samples more than their capacity. Please understand the problem. Suppose if a serious patient gave his/her sample today, and if the results come after 3-4 days, the patient might die. Strict enquiry will be ordered against such labs which pick up samples over their capacity and not giving results within 24 hours,” the Delhi CM said.

8. Speaking again on the beds available for Covid patients across Delhi, Kejriwal said there is an app by the government where real-time details are given to people about the number of beds occupied and vacant in a hospital. The app is not operated by the government and a password has been given to every hospital to fill details, he added.

9. Expanding on the previous point, Kejriwal warned strict action against those hospitals which are using the government app and don’t provide beds to patients despite availability.

10. The chief minister said the weekend lockdown will be reviewed and any step will be taken to ensure the safety of the Delhi people.

Also Watch| ‘Shortage of oxygen & Remdesivir in Delhi’: Arvind Kejriwal amid Covid surge

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal held a review meeting on the Covid-19 management in Delhi along with deputy chief minister and nodal minister Manish Sisodia, health minister Satyendar Jain and other officials.