Reserve 80% of ICU beds for Covid patients: AAP govt to 33 pvt hospitals

New Delhi: With a fresh spurt in Covid-19 cases in the nation capital, the Delhi government is going all out to ensure that the city is well-equipped to deal with the menace while treatment facilities are well in order to meet the demand of ICU, if need arises.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain told media that the AAP government has directed 33 big private hospitals of city to reserve 80% of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients.

“Yesterday, we instructed 33 private hospitals to reserve 80 per cent of their ICU beds for coronavirus patients. This has been done since issues were being faced with regards to ICU beds in some private hospitals. I also held a video conference over this and an order has been issued in this regard,” Health Minister told reporters.

Delhi, which had more or less brought Covid-19 under control, is witnessing fresh jump in Coronavirus cases from last week of August. The cases have seen an increase from 1,500 to 4,000 per day. Delhi recorded its biggest single-day jump of 4,321 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the city’s tally to over 2.14 lakh.

“We have also instructed hospitals to increase bed strength by 30 per cent for coronavirus patients, in case they want to. More than 50 per cent beds are available in hospitals. Out of the total 14,372 beds available for COVID-19 patients, 7,938 are vacant, according to live status on Delhi Corona app,” Jain said.

Delhi Health Minister however ruled out the possibility of another lockdown.

“The time for enforcing a lockdown has ended. We have gained enough experience through the lockdown and know that wearing masks is an effective way to fight the infection. We are creating awareness to wear masks,” he said.
Meanwhile, the testing has been ramped up Delhi. On an average, over 60,000 tests are being conducted on daily basis.