‘35% virus patients in Delhi hospitals from other states’

NEWDELHI: Delhi’s health minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday said around 35% of beds in Covid hospitals in Delhi are currently occupied by patients from other states. He also said that the number of Covid cases in the Capital are witnessing a spike once again because a large number of patients from other states are getting tested in Delhi.

“Till last month, we observed that total bed occupancy in Covid hospitals in the city in terms of absolute numbers was dropping by around 100 per day on an average. But, for at least the last 10 days, the number has been more or less constant. When we studied the trends, it emerged that around 35% of patients who have occupied beds currently are outsiders. In fact, on Saturday, 224

Delhi residents were admitted in Covid hospitals, compared to 97 patients from other states,” said Jain, who himself recovered from Covid and joined the office last month. As on Sunday evening, 3,085 (out of 13,517) beds in Covid hospitals in Delhi were occupied – which is 27 higher than the previous day, in terms of absolute numbers, government records showed.

On Sunday, Delhi recorded 1,300 new infections taking the cumulative number of cases to 145,427.

NEW COVID HOSPITAL

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday inaugurated a 200-bed hospital in south-east Delhi’s Ambedkar Nagar, which would currently operate as a dedicated Covid facility. All 200 beds in the hospital are fitted with oxygen concentration system.