Delhi govt might delink hotels from hospitals due to low occupancy of COVID beds

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to chair a strategic meeting on Wednesday wherein a decision to delink the hotels may be taken, said a government source.

The Delhi government is likely to delink hotels that were recently attached with dedicated Covid-19 hospitals as there has been a decline in the number of active cases of the novel coronavirus in the last few days in the city, sources said on Tuesday.

A health worker sanitizes his hands between taking swab samples at a collection booth in Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to chair a strategic meeting on Wednesday wherein a decision to delink the hotels may be taken, said a government source.

“With no patients in hotels and reducing number of patients in Delhi hospitals, important strategic decisions may be taken,” he said.

According to the Delhi health bulletin, 12,633 COVID beds in hospitals and more than 4,000 beds in dedicated COVID care centres were lying vacant due to declining number of positive cases of coronavirus.

The number of active cases of Covid-19 was 10,887 on Tuesday including 6,219 patients recuperating under home isolation, the bulletin said.

The Delhi government had in early June empowered the district magistrates in 11 districts to use hotels as an extension of hospitals treating Covid-19 patients as the cases surged.

A total of 40 hotels were designated as extensions of various hospitals across the city.

Patients with moderate symptoms staying at such hotels received basic healthcare and were to be shifted to the attached hospitals in case their condition worsened.

Three hotels in south west Delhi were earlier this month delinked from their respective hospitals due to low occupancy. But the decision was reversed by the district authorities within a day.