Three-fold increase in Covid beds in Delhi since April 3: Sisodia

His comments came amid concerns regarding the rate at which hospital beds are getting occupied in the city. As on Tuesday noon, government records said there were 19,124 Covid-19 beds in the city, of which 16,661 (87.12%) were occupied, and there were only 32 ICU beds left in the city – out of a total of 4,447

Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said there has been a three-fold increase in total Covid-19 beds across hospitals in the city since April 3, and around 2,700 more beds will be added within the next six days, even as he expressed concerns about the increase in Covid-19 cases.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. (HT file)

“The Covid-19 situation in the city is alarming. We are currently recording around 25,000 new cases a day. Going by the rate of increase in cases, it looks like the number of daily cases will soon rise to 28,000 -30,000. In the last 4-5 days, we have been working round-the-clock on providing hospital beds to Covid-19 patients. We are also increasing Covid-19 beds. On April 3, we had 6,071 beds in the city. As of now, we have 19,101 beds. We have increased beds by three times on a war footing in such a short time,” said Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s nodal minister for Covid-19 management and inter-ministerial coordination, in a video press briefing.

His comments came amid concerns regarding the rate at which hospital beds are getting occupied in the city. As on Tuesday noon, government records said there were 19,124 Covid-19 beds in the city, of which 16,661 (87.12%) were occupied, and there were only 32 ICU beds left in the city – out of a total of 4,447.

“On Monday, the DRDO facility opened and all 250 beds got occupied within four hours. In that centre, 250 more beds are awaited. The city’s total Covid-19 bed capacity will increase by around 2,700 in the next 5-6 days,” said Sisodia.

He named several Delhi government hospitals -- Burari hospital, Ambedkar Nagar hospital, DDU hospital, Acharya Bhikshu hospital, Raja Harishchandra Hospital and Lok Nayak hospital -- which are likely to witness augmentation of Covid-19 beds capacity in the coming days.

On Monday, HT reported that the health department of the Delhi government had issued an order directing the 11 Delhi government-run Covid-19 hospitals to increase their total ward beds by 1,979 and ICU beds by 915. The names of the hospitals cited by Sisodia were mentioned in the order.

Addressing concerns over the burden on the healthcare infrastructure, Sisodia said, “We appeal to people not to panic. Don’t rush to hospital on being diagnosed Covid-19 positive. If severe symptoms surface, then consult a doctor and consider checking for hospital availability on the app (Delhi government’s mobile application) and only then go to hospital. Running from one hospital to another exhausts the patients and also burdens the hospitals.”

“Also, we have received a large number of complaints from patient attendants that doctors are not monitoring patients regularly. But it is not so. Please understand that you cannot identify doctors clad in PPE kits. So please don’t have such wrong perceptions. Doctors are doing their best and are completely invested in their work, risking their own lives.”

In another press briefing, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain also addressed the issue of Covid beds and said, “Nearly 1,000 to 1,500 beds have been increased in the city each day. There were just about 6,000 Covid-19 beds as on April 8, which has now been tripled to over 18,000 beds. But, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of cases.”

He said that the makeshift facility at Radha Soami Satsang Beas is likely to open up on Tuesday, with 600 beds added on Monday at the Commonwealth games village facility.

On being asked about patients with severe infection being refused admission without an RT-PCR positive report, the minister said, “There is a shortage of beds in Delhi; over 16,500 beds are already occupied by patients from Delhi as well as outside. Wherever there are beds available, patients are being admitted.” (With inputs from Anonna Dutt)