Delhi working to set up over 37k Covid-19 beds for next wave of infections: Jain

If the positivity rate in Delhi goes up to 5%, then we will go for an immediate lockdown in the city without delay, said Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain.

The national capital will have over 37,000 dedicated beds in hospitals, makeshift facilities, and Covid Care Centres (CCC) for Covid-19 patients in the event of another wave of the infection, state health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday, as he outlined the Delhi government’s plans to scuttle any further outbreak of the disease, and warned that the city will be put under lockdown if the test positivity rate crosses 5%.

“All measures necessary are being taken, and health infrastructure is being ramped up to unprecedented levels, with more than 37,000 dedicated beds being built for the fight against Covid-19,” said Jain. (ANI)

Speaking at a virtual discussion organised by ASSOCHAM on preparations for the third wave of the infection — which would be Delhi’s fifth, Jain said the state is conducting 75,000 Covid-19 tests a day and ‘aggressively’ tracing contacts to keep another outbreak at bay.

“All measures necessary are being taken, and health infrastructure is being ramped up to unprecedented levels, with more than 37,000 dedicated beds being built for the fight against Covid-19,” said Jain. Makeshift hospitals have been set up in Chhattarpur, Sant Nirankari Colony, and Ram Leela Maidan, which will add more than 1,200 intensive care unit beds, with and without ventilators.

In documents submitted to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal in the third week of June, officials of the Delhi government reassessed their projections for potential infections during the next possible wave of Covid-19, and divided the outbreak into two scenarios —between 37,000 and 45,000 new infections in the city every day.

Since then, the state government has also outlined a colour-coded graded response action plan, which sets clear thresholds for curbs that kick in from a test positivity rate as low as 0.5% in order to thwart an outbreak.

The plan harks back to a similar mechanism to fight air pollution during pre-winter months and classifies outbreak severity into four bands – yellow, amber, orange and red – with each representing a more severe outbreak and, thus, stricter curbs than the one preceding it.

The government is also taking measures to ensure that there is no shortfall in oxygen, and said the state is building and supporting infrastructure such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and other oxygen plants in Delhi hospitals, Jain said during the discussion on Thursday.

He said that the Delhi government is providing subsidies to build oxygen plants and facilities to store liquid medicine oxygen.

Speaking about the second wave, he said, “We were caught off guard because of oxygen shortages and logistical issues of procuring it. But now, over 50 oxygen plants have already been built and more are coming up so that such a problem doesn’t rise again.”

He said, “In Delhi, 75,000 tests are still being carried out every day and aggressive contact tracing is still on to ensure that the situation remains under control. We have made public what our response will be. If the positivity rate now goes up to 5%, then we will go for an immediate lockdown without delay,” said Jain.

To be sure, the test positivity rate in Delhi has been below 5% for 77 days, going back to May 20, when the city’s fourth wave of infections began to ebb, and cases began to fall.

Experts regard the test positivity as an essential statistic to gauge the spread of an infection in a region, and the trajectory of this number can indicate if cases will rise or fall in the future.

“Cases are increasing again in the United States, so we must not drop our guard at this point. All possible efforts are being made to ensure that a third wave doesn’t come and if at all it comes, we are to be prepared for the worst,” Jain added

.