‘35% virus patients in Delhi hospitals from other states’
nNEWDELHI: 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.
Under guidelines of the government, only Covid patients with severe symptoms or those with moderate symptoms along with comorbidities are admitted in hospitals. 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. As many as 1,404 fresh cases were recorded on Saturday. However, between August 1 and 7, Delhi witnessed an average of 1,028 fresh cases per day.
Jain attributed the spike to “people from other states who arrive in Delhi and get tested”.
He said, “Most such cases surface only when health teams reach out to the patients for follow up and realise that they have left for their residence. So far, we have seen patients from Ghaziabad, Noida, Kolkata and other places who got in Delhi and diagnosed Covid positive. Large number of patients are outsiders. As far as Delhi is concerned, cases which originate in the city are actually going down.”
When asked if the increased numbers could be a result of increased RT-PCR tests in the last few days, Jain said, “There are strict guidelines for conducting RT-PCR tests set by the ICMR. It says that only symptomatic people can be recommended for the test. On our part we have been conducting a large number of antigen test. And individuals who test negative despite having symptoms are sent for RT-PCR test.”
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.
Currently, all 200 beds in the hospital are fitted with oxygen concentration system but it has no intensive care unit (ICU). The chief minister said that more beds and ICU facilities in the hospital would be added at the earliest.
The hospital – which goes operational from Sunday – is the first public hospital in close vicinity of several localities other than Ambedkar Nagar.
“There was no big hospital in this area and the nearby constituencies. And the idea of the construction of this hospital was conceived in 2013. I am happy that after many years, this hospital will be inaugurated today. The 200 beds which will be made operational from today will be a huge aid in the treatment of covid patients,” said Kejriwal.
Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain was also present on the occasion.