Delhi govt to add 100 more ICU beds in Lok Nayak Hospital

Data compiled by the Delhi government on Sunday showed that out of 5,777 Covid-19 patients who have been admitted to the hospital so far, 4,169 have recovered.

The Delhi government is likely to add 100 intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Lok Nayak Hospital, central Delhi—the city government’s biggest Covid-19-dedicated hospital—taking the total number to 200, a senior government official said on Sunday.

The government is likely to add 100 intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Lok Nayak Hospital (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Data compiled by the Delhi government on Sunday showed that out of 5,777 Covid-19 patients who have been admitted to the hospital so far, 4,169 have recovered.

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“We increased the number of ICU beds in the hospital from 64 to 100 earlier this month. A hundred additional ICU beds will be added very soon,” said the official cited above on condition of anonymity, adding that the hospital already has 80 ventilators and 2,000 beds, of which 384 have oxygen support.

On Sunday evening, more than 1,300 of the 2,000 beds in the hospital were vacant, showed the government’s real-time Delhi Corona app.

In the last three months, the hospital has also witnessed 114 successful child deliveries and 1,130 dialysis sessions of Covid-19 patients.

In June, the hospital witnessed a 50% drop in deaths, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said in a digital press briefing last week, attributing it to plasma therapy trials. Data compiled by the government on Sunday showed that the hospital witnessed 51 deaths in the week between June 20 and 26, as against 100 deaths recorded between June 6 and 12.

The hospital has already administered 29 plasma trials in the first phase, according to government records, and received the central government’s approval for 200 more. “As most serious patients were admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital or have been transferred here, the doctors and nurses have had to face the tough challenge of dealing with the highest number of serious cases. To deal with this crisis, the chief minister had advocated the use of plasma therapy in April itself, at a time when this therapy was still being considered as a possible approach to treat serious Covid-19 patients in the country,” said a Delhi government spokesperson.

In the last few weeks, the hospital has also witnessed additional facilities, such as the setting up of a special helpdesk personally monitored by the chief minister’s office and a video calling facility through tablets that enables patients to communicate with their relatives. Many relatives had complained that they had lost contact with patients after they had been admitted to the hospital. Also, rules do not allow non-medical hospital staff to enter the Covid-19 wards.

A 100-bed Covid-19 health centre set up in a banquet hall in central Delhi has also been attached to Lok Nayak Hospital now.

The government has also set up a team entrusted with calling up every admitted patient in the hospital everyday to enquire about their health.