Delhi Govt vacates covid care centre at CWG village, likely to be used as vaccination booth

The Delhi government will set up booths across the city to vaccinate 5.1 million people in the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination. Each booth will be staffed by five persons, including one trained vaccinator who will give the shot to 100 people in a day, as per the government plan.

The Delhi government is vacating the premises of the 500-bed covid care centre in east Delhi’s Commonwealth Games (CWG) village, said a senior government official on Wednesday.

Workers dismantle beds at the CWG Village Covid centre. The centre may now be used for vaccination drive. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

It is now one of the possible booths among others where vaccination drive would be undertaken, officials who did not wish to be named, said.

The 500-bed centre -- that was meant for people with mild or no symptoms who did not have sufficient space for home isolation – started functioning on July 8, when Delhi was witnessing its first surge in Covid infections. However, the centre saw very few admissions and the government decided to shut it down like many other Covid Care Centres.

“There were very few people being admitted to the facility. It did not make any sense to keep such a huge facility running and hence a decision to close it down was taken,” said an official in the know of the matter.

The official further said that the space is being considered for one of the booths that will be set up for vaccination drives. “The government is in the process of identifying the booths in the city and it is being considered as one. No final decision on the matter has been taken yet,” the official said.

The Delhi government will set up booths across the city to vaccinate 5.1 million people in the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination. Each booth will be staffed by five persons, including one trained vaccinator who will give the shot to 100 people in a day, as per the government plan.

“The CWG centre has provided patient care to around 1,800 individuals since July 8, of which around 160 had to be moved to the hospital on having developed fever, breathlessness or other severe symptoms. All patients have recovered,” said a senior official in the revenue department.

For medical emergencies, it was attached to Lok Nayak – Delhi government’s biggest Covid-19 hospital.

On November 5, when Delhi was amid the third and worst phase of severe uptick in Covid-19 cases, covid care centres across the city had 1,028 beds occupied out of 7887 – the highest so far. On Tuesday, only 65 beds were occupied out of 7922. As on Wednesday, only 70 beds in covid care centres were occupied.