Oxygen storage capacity, genome labs: How Delhi will prep to deal with Covid-19 peak of 37,000 cases a day

Delhi on Saturday recorded 414 fresh Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate dropped further to 0.5 per cent.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday his government is preparing to deal with a potential third wave of Covid-19 as he also announced a partial easing of the ongoing lockdown in the Capital. Delhi is also preparing for oxygen storage capacity and will set up genome sequencing labs to study coronavirus variants, Kejriwal said in a virtual press conference.

A team of experts and doctors will prescribe useful medicines and a buffer stock of Covid medicines will be created in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal said. (Reuters Photo)

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said a paediatric task force will be set up to decide the number of beds, ICU facilities and other equipment needed for children, who experts apprehend are likely to be affected in the third wave. A team of experts and doctors will prescribe useful medicines and a buffer stock of Covid medicines will be created, he said. They will also recommend the Delhi government from time to time about which medicines work and avoid panic and rumours among people.

"We are making arrangements considering a peak of 37,000 cases in mind… A storage capacity of 420 tonnes of oxygen is being created. Indraprastha Gas Limited has been asked to set up a plant to produce 150 tonnes of oxygen,” Kejriwal said. “Twenty-five oxygen tankers are being brought and 64 small oxygen plants are being established. Buffer stocks of potential medicines will be made,” he added.

Also watch | ‘Markets to open on odd-even basis; Metro to run at 50% capacity: Delhi CM

Its peak was 28,395 Covid-19 cases on April 20. Hospitals in Delhi struggled to provide oxygen cylinders and beds to Covid-19 patients as infections surged but the wave began subsiding from the middle of May.

The Delhi chief minister also said the AAP-led government will set up the two genome sequencing labs at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital and the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences to determine the coronavirus variant that led to a surge in cases in the city.

Delhi on Saturday recorded 414 fresh Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate dropped further to 0.5 per cent. On Friday, Delhi recorded 523 Covid-19 cases and 50 deaths while the positivity rate stood at 0.68 per cent, according to health departments bulletin. The infection rate, which reached 36 per cent in the last week of April, has fallen below 1 per cent, it showed.