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To deal with the recent spike in coronavirus cases in Delhi, the Centre on Sunday said it will soon make available 300 additional ICU beds and double the number of daily RTPCR tests in the national capital.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also said some of the hospitals under the municipal corporations of Delhi will be converted into dedicated Covid-19 hospitals and doctors and paramedics of paramilitary forces will be deployed in the national capital to deal with the shortage of medical staff. Shah added that the Centre will also provide oxygen cylinders, high flow nasal cannula and other health equipment to the Delhi government.
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The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Shah and attended by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan among others.
In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah said the number of RTPCR tests being conducted daily in Delhi will be doubled adding that the capacity of the testing laboratories will also be enhanced and mobile testing vans belonging to the Union health ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will be deployed in areas where the Covid-19 threat is high.
He said the meeting resolved to enhance the capacity of Delhi's hospitals and in this direction, 300 ICU beds will be made available at the DRDO Covid-19 hospital (Dhaula Kuan). The home minister also said to increase the number of oxygen beds, the 10,000-bedded Chhatarpur Covid-19 care centre will be strengthened and some of the hospitals of the municipal corporations of Delhi will be converted into dedicated Covid-19 hospitals.
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The home minister reviewed the situation arising due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in Delhi and discussed ways to deal with it, a home ministry official said.
Delhi recorded 3,235 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the infection tally to over 4.85 lakh on Sunday, while ninety-five more fatalities pushed the death toll to 7,614.
The meeting was convened to devise a strategy to contain the spread of the virus in Delhi, especially in view of the festive season and decreasing temperatures accompanied by rising pollution, the official said.
