Delhi deputy CM Sisodia directs hospitals to up Covid care facilities

Senior officials of the Delhi government’s health department said that in accordance with the Centre’s directions, a mock drill will be organised in all hospitals on Tuesday to ensure the readiness of health facilities for Covid management.

With Covid-19 cases rising globally and India at risk of a similar spike, Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday directed all hospitals in the Capital to ramp up facilities in the next few days.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia chairs a review meeting with directors and medical superintendents of government hospitals to take stock of Covid-19 preparations in New Delhi on Monday. (ANI)

Sisodia, who also holds the health portfolio, held a review meeting with directors and medical superintendents of all government hospitals on Monday. He directed them to assess all Covid-related facilities at their hospitals in accordance with updated guidelines issued by the Union health ministry.

“The global surge in Covid cases is a matter of concern for everyone. Hospitals need to prepare themselves well in advance. They have been directed to share details of beds, ventilators, facilities in the ICU (intensive care unit), number of doctors and nurses, oxygen plants, field staff and permitted medicines with the health department by this evening,” Sisodia said, according to a statement issued by the Delhi government.

Senior officials of the Delhi government’s health department said that in accordance with the Centre’s directions, a mock drill will be organised in all hospitals on Tuesday to ensure the readiness of health facilities for Covid management. Sisodia said in case of any gaps, action will be taken against the institution.

“It is to be noted that the focus of the mock drill will be on assessing bed capacities, human resource capacity, referral resources, the testing capacity of hospitals, medical logistics, telemedicine services, medical oxygen, etc,” the government statement said.

The Delhi government has also asked all departments concerned to increase surveillance in light of the global surge in cases. To be sure, the daily infection rate has stayed below 1% in Delhi since November 13, but the authorities are making arrangements for the “worst-case scenario”, senior officials of the health department said.

Health experts said that being cautious is a good idea till there is clarity on the type of variant causing the global spike in infections.

“The impact of the new and latest surge is dependent upon several factors—the variant (of concern), the population’s immunity, vaccination status, and the preventive measures taken by the community. Vaccination and herd immunity are protective shields, but may not work if the variant is too different from the previous ones,” said Dr Neetu Jain, senior consultant (pulmonary and critical care, sleep medicine) at PSRI Hospital.

She added, “Past experience will help make strategies for prevention. Masking is definitely the way to go, but it should be voluntary. Let us do that based on local prevalence and promote it for high-risk groups such as the elderly and people with chronic diseases and their caretakers.”