‘Oxygen an emergency in Delhi', says Kejriwal; will meet Lieutenant Governor tomorrow over Covid-19 situation

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier said his government has sought the Centre's help in ensuring adequate beds and oxygen supply for Covid-19 patients.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that Delhi is battling an acute shortage of oxygen as it fights to check the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). In a tweet on Sunday evening, he also declared that oxygen has become an emergency in the national capital.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal inspects a Covid care centre inside the CWG village, in New Delhi on Sunday. (PTI Photo)

"Del facing acute shortage of oxygen. In view of sharply increasing cases, Del needs much more than normal supply. Rather than increasing supply, our normal supply has been sharply reduced and Delhi’s quota has been diverted to other states. OXYGEN HAS BECOME AN EMERGENCY IN DEL," Kejriwal tweeted.

The chief minister will meet Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Monday over Covid-19 situation in the national capital, news agency ANI reported.

Kejriwal had said earlier on Sunday that around 25,500 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in Delhi and the positivity rate has increased to nearly 30 per cent in a 24-hour period.

Kejriwal said the current number of fresh cases is "extremely overwhelming" compared to mid-March when 100-150 Covid-19 positive cases were being reported daily.

"If this pace continues then within the next two to three days, we will face a shortage of beds and other facilities. In a way, this is a race against time," he said.

Kejriwal also said the Delhi government has sought the Centre's help in ensuring adequate beds and oxygen supply for Covid-19 patients. He also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting his help in enhancing the number of hospital beds and immediate oxygen supply for patients in Delhi.

Also Watch: 'Just grab it...', top doctor on Kejriwal saying Delhi low on ICU beds

His Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government also urged the Indian Railways to arrange up to 5,000 beds in view of the rising cases in the national capital.

Acting on the chief minister's request, the Northern Railways deployed 50 isolation coaches, each having two oxygen cylinders, at Delhi's Shakur Basti railway station and 25 such facilities will be placed at Anand Vihar by Monday, General Manager Ashutosh Gangal said on Sunday.

These coaches, modified for Covid-19 patients, have been divided into eight bays or 'cabins' with each having 16 beds. Every coach has three toilets and a bathroom with hand showers, buckets, mugs and seating arrangement.

Mosquito nets, bio-toilets, power sockets and oxygen cylinders are available at the coaches. Also, space has been created to hold IV-fluid bottles. Extra bottle holders and clamps have been provided to hang them.

On Sunday, Kejriwal wrote a letter to Union commerce and industries minister Piyush Goyal, requesting him to ensure uninterrupted supply of 700MT of oxygen on daily basis.