Delhi four steps ahead of the virus, will have 9,500 beds ready by June 5, says CM Arvind Kejriwal

As on Saturday, the national Capital had 18,549 Covid cases of which 10,058 were active cases. As many as 8,075 people have recovered and 416 people have died of the disease.

Delhi is several steps ahead of the coronavirus disease and by June 5, will have in place 9,500 hospital beds for Covid-19 patients, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday as the national capital reported 1,163 new cases of the infection, crossing the threshold of 1,000 for the third day in a row.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal held out an assurance that there was no shortage of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients and as of Saturday, as many as 4,500 beds were vacant. (ANI Photo)

As on Saturday, the national Capital had 18,549 Covid cases of which 10,058 were active cases. As many as 8,075 people have recovered and 416 people have died of the disease.

Delhi has recorded a two-fold increase in Covid cases since May 14, a trend that is worrying, Kejriwal conceded. He urged residents of the city not to panic because a a majority of the patients are either asymptomatic or show mild symptoms like cough, cold and fever.

The chief minister said most such patients were recovering from the disease in their homes and had not admitted themselves in hospitals — with some not even needing any medication.

“Being the chief minister of the people of Delhi, I want to assure you that we are four steps ahead of Covid-19, and are making arrangements way more than what is required for Delhi to fight the virus,” he said.

“From the 4,500 beds we had last week, the government has now arranged a total of 6,600 beds for the treatment of Covid patients, out of which only 2,100 are occupied. In just a week, we arranged 2,100 beds. By June 5, Delhi will increase its bed capacity to 9,500 beds. We are even taking over hotels, where oxygen concentrators and beds are being arranged by hospitals,” Kejriwal said.

For the first time, the government on Friday had notified five hotels to be fully used as “extended Covid hospitals” for patients with moderate symptoms on a payment basis, adding 1,000 beds. It also designated Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital in Ashok Vihar-IV, Wazirpur and Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Narela as dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, increasing the number of beds in Delhi by another 400. GTB Hospital was asked to earmark 500 more beds for Covid patients. On Saturday, the government asked GTB Hospital — having a capacity of 1,500 beds — to turn into a dedicated Covid hospital by June 2.

In Saturday’s digital press briefing, the chief minister said the government will launch a dedicated mobile application and a website for people to check the availability of Covid-19 beds and ventilators in hospitals.

“Even though the health infrastructure in Delhi for Covid is fairly adequate for now, family members of patients are still facing difficulty and confusion remains regarding where to take a person for treatment. For the convenience of the people, we are developing an app that will be launched on Monday<’ the chief minister said.

“The app will show the data and status of beds and ventilators available in each hospital in Delhi. People who do not use smartphones can access this information on a website that is also being created. Besides, this information will also be available on the government’s 1031 helpline,” he said.

Senior officials in the health department said the number of Covid beds in Delhi government hospitals will be increased to 4,600 by next Friday (June 5) from around 3,830 beds as of Saturday.

Gauging the high demand among families for private hospitals, the government is also augmenting the number of beds in private facilities. The number of beds in private hospitals as of Saturday was 2,677 compared to only 677 last week. This will increase to 3,677 by June 5.

Kejriwal urged people to consider opting for government hospitals as far as possible. “A lot of people want to be treated in private hospitals. But just like our government schools, even Delhi government hospitals will provide you with the best of facilities. I am assuring you this,” he said.

According to data available with the Delhi government, Covid cases in Delhi have spiked since the lockdown was significantly relaxed on May 18.

Now all modes of public transport, except the metro, industries, offices, shops are allowed to operate.

Kejriwal also appealed to the people to not share malicious and unverified content on social media. “Some people create, post, and share videos for petty and dirty politics,” he said, citing two videos that he said had been falsely passed off as footage of Delhi government hospitals.