From AIIMS to ICMR, Lt Guv Baijal gets experts to help Delhi fight Covid-19

Hindustan Times had first reported on Wednesday that Anil Baijal was looking at getting expert opinion on how the city could rapidly ramp up beds available for Covid-19 patients without compromising on the quality of medical care to patients.

Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Friday set up a high-level committee to suggest effective measures to handle the coronavirus disease in the national capital. The decision to set up the panel came days after the health department projected a surge in Covid-19 cases that could breach the 1,00,000-mark this month-end and touch 5 lakh by July-end.

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has set up the expert Covid-19 committee in his capacity as chairman, Delhi Disaster Management Authority. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

Hindustan Times had first reported on Wednesday that Baijal was looking at getting expert opinion on how the city could rapidly ramp up beds available for Covid-19 patients without compromising on the quality of medical care to patients.

The six-member committee includes Indian Council of Medical Research director general Balram Bhargava, AIIMS director Randeep Guleria, and two members of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The committee is expected to give the city government a clearer picture of its spread over the next few weeks and months.

A Delhi government official told Hindustan Times that the projected shortage of beds had been a cause of serious concern. A statement issued by Raj Nivas later said Anil Baijal felt that the efforts being made by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA “need to be bolstered by concerted planning, use of latest technology, efficient monitoring and seamless coordination among various agencies to overcome the challenge”.

At a meeting that he had chaired earlier in the day, Anil Baijal had expressed concerns around the health care infrastructure, telling officials that their first priority is to ramp up bed capacity and medical resources so that the surge in cases doesn’t overwhelm the healthcare system.

The health department estimates that the city would need 1.5 lakh beds by July 31 when the Covid-19 count crosses 5 lakh. Delhi has all of nearly 58,000 hospital beds in the government and private sector.

The order to set up the committee comes just a day after the national capital recorded 1,877 new infections and 101 new fatalities. The city’s total tally has gone up to 34,687 Covid-19 cases. In all, 1,085 people have died due to Covid-19.

Baijal is learnt to have taken note of the increase in the number of containment zones in the city and reviewed the government’s strategies. There are 242 containment zones at last count, up from about 100 three weeks back. Their number went up as more Covid-19 cases were reported from different parts of the city.

“Our objective is to break the chain of transmission and reduce the morbidity and mortality of Covid-19,” Baijal said early in the meeting. The city’s case fatality rate – the proportion of infected persons who succumb to the illness – has risen to 3.13%, the highest it has been since March 25.