Covid-19 cases down, Delhi begins preparations for third wave

Over the last four weeks, the Capital was battered by a devastating wave of infections – the fourth wave for city and the second nationwide since the pandemic began – with health care capacities inundated and critical medical supplies such as oxygen running out.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that the Delhi government has set in motion a plan to prepare for the next wave of Covid-19 infections in the Capital, which could require nearly 40,000 oxygen beds and 10,000 ICU beds, and potentially hit younger people, particularly children, harder.

Delhi had 11,133 deaths till April 7 and between April 8, when the positivity crept back up above 5% on average, and May 19, it added 11,213 more fatalities.(Raj K Raj/HT file photo)

The move comes at a time when experts have warned that a new wave of infections cannot be ruled out, especially due to the threat of more transmissible Sars-Cov-2 variants, low vaccination coverage, and the lifting of the lockdown that was put in place in an effort to flatten the pandemic’s curve.

“If the third wave of the coronavirus emerges, we have to be prepared in advance to fight it. Took some important decisions today at a meeting with officials: 1. We will have a special task force to protect children from the third wave; 2 There will be better arrangements than before for adequate number of beds, oxygen, and essential medicines,” Kejriwal said in a tweet after the meeting.

“In the meeting (on Wednesday), the need for advance preparations for the third wave of Covid-19 were discussed. The third wave may require Delhi to be prepared with 40,000 oxygen beds, and the Delhi government is making preparations to install 10,000 ICU beds. Along with beds and oxygen management, management of medicine was also discussed. A committee comprising officials will be formed to overlook the availability of medicines, oxygen, and beds,” the chief minister’s office later said in a statement.

Over the last four weeks, the Capital was battered by a devastating wave of infections – the fourth wave for city and the second nationwide since the pandemic began – with health care capacities inundated and critical medical supplies such as oxygen running out.

With the test positivity rate clocking in at under 6% on Wednesday, the city appears to have all but crossed this wave of infections, which began in the first week of April and has claimed over 11,000 lives – as many as the previous three waves put together. The city had 11,133 deaths till April 7 and between April 8, when the positivity crept back up above 5% on average, and May 19, it added 11,213 more fatalities.

Delhi reported 3,846 new Covid cases on Wednesday, the lowest in 44 days.

Kejriwal said he has asked officials to stay alert of any possible outbreak among children and directed for a special task force to monitor the pattern of infection among the young and make the necessary interventions.

He also asked for another committee to be set up to oversee availability of medical oxygen, medicines and beds.

While Covid-19 typically manifests more mildly in children compared to adults, some experts have in recent days flagged the growing risks to children in the future, who are yet to be made eligible for vaccine doses since these are yet to be fully tested among them. This is now the second academic year in which children have had to stay at home and learn remotely, which not many have been able to access.

“If the third wave does happen, it will affect the children because others would have either had the infection or received a vaccine. So far, there are no vaccines for children in India. This is the reason we need to start preparing for management of Covid-19 in children,” said Dr Lalit Kant, former head of the department of epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research.

“The physiology of children is different, so the case management is also different. We would need fresh treatment protocols and SOPs. We will need to arrange for appropriate medicines and equipment,” he added.

A senior government official said the special task force will have paediatricians, experts, and senior IAS officers as members. The chief minister has also asked health officials to closely monitor developments regarding Covid-19 vaccination, especially for children, and to stay in constant touch with the central government to place orders as soon as doses are made available for them.

Even as the number of new cases reduces – they have fallen by 71% in the last two weeks alone -- departments and district administrations have been asked not to dismantle any Covid care centre (CCC) built over the past month, according to a second official, who asked not to be named. Delhi went into a lockdown on April 17; the government has extended this till May 24, and it is likely to see at least one more extension.

The chief minister’s office said that while addressing officials in the meeting, Kejriwal said: “Increased numbers of Covid beds also require increased amount of oxygen allocation to hospitals. We need to keep enough oxygen tankers at hand so that we do not fall short of supply. We also need to ensure optimum oxygen storage and proper functioning of oxygen plants.”

In a separate meeting, lieutenant governor Anil Baijal held a review on the Covid-19 situation and directed officials to take “immediate steps” to ensure availability of drugs related to black fungus and the newly launched 2-DG for people in genuine and medically prescribed need.

The L-G also asked officials to ensure that distributors and retailers of drugs and equipment related to Covid are made to mandatorily display their stocks and prices to the customers.

“The L-G also instructed that achievable and compressed timelines for setting up of oxygen plants in hospitals and other related infrastructure be put in place immediately. He stressed that testing, especially RT-PCR should not go down, since owing to the lockdown, rapid antigen tests (RAT) have naturally gone down. With regards to the hospital infrastructure to deal with future eventualities, LG instructed that preparedness thereof should take into account the worst case, best case and the likely scenarios in consultation with experts,” an official in the L-G office said on condition of anonymity.