Government plans to ramp up Delhi’s Covid beds over three weeks
NEWDELHI: The Delhi government has finalised a plan under which hospitals and facilities dedicated to Covid-19 treatment in the city will increase their cumulative bed capacity by at least 9,000 beds, including 750 beds with ventilator support, by the end of the month, senior officials said.
Currently, five government hospitals in the city together have nearly 4,500 beds and 300 ventilators to treat those infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus. More hospitals and suitable premises are likely to be taken over as cases increase and added as extended facilities to these government hospitals to augment capacity.
The plan — drafted after the city touched 1,000 cases in a single day on May 28 – requires the five hospitals to have 4,470 beds in the first phase (by June 11), 4,650 in the second (by June 18) and 4,750 in the third phase (by June 25), according senior government officials. They said the target under the first phase is already met by these five hospitals. After augmentation, the total bed strength in the these five hospitals is expected to go up to 13,500.
The five government hospitals are Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, GTB Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital, Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital and Satyavati Raja Harish Chandra Hospital. More hospitals, including at least 42 private ones that have been shortlisted so far, are likely to be roped in for augmenting capacity, a senior government official said.
District magistrates in the city have been entrusted with looking out for more locations that can be used as extensions of the existing government hospitals.
Goverment officials said that the five hospitals collectively will have to have 110 beds with ventilator support in the first phase, 270 ventilator-supported beds in the second and 370 such beds in the third.
Between May 28 and June 4, Delhi recorded an average of 1,219 cases a day, the government records showed. The government is expecting a further spike in these numbers as Delhi’s economic activities and public spaces have opened up in phases.
On Friday, Delhi recorded 1,330 Covid-19 cases, taking the total to 26,334. The death toll went up to 708. Of the 15,311 active Covid-19 cases as on Friday, 10,255 are in home isolation.
In another order issued earlier this week, the government directed all private hospitals with more than 50 beds to dedicate 20% of the total beds to Covid-19 patients. With this, the government hopes to add 2,643 beds for Covid treatment at 42 private hospitals, another set of government documents showed. These beds are going to be part of the larger augmentation plan said a senior official.
The order is applicable to 117 hospitals and nursing homes in the city built on land procured from the government at subsidised rates. But apart from the 42, the rest are yet to give estimates to the government, a senior official said.
On Thursday, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said hospitals that fail to earmark 20% of their beds for Covid-19 treatment will have to offer up the entire hospital to combat the pandemic. The government has also allowed such hospitals to increase their total bed capacity by 25%.
Currently, the city has 10 Covid-dedicated hospitals, which collectively provides around 4,000 beds and 130 ventilators. The hospitals are Max Super Speciality Hospital, Apollo Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Kolmet Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital, Mahadurga Charitable Trust Hospital, Batra Hospital, Fortis Shalimar Bagh, Venkateshwara Hospital, Moolchand Hospital and Saroj Super Speciality Hospital.
Apart from these, the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Chhatrasal Stadium, Siri Fort Sports Complex, Saket Sports complex, and more than 20 hotels and banquet halls have been identified by the revenue department as facilities that can be converted into Covid-19 hospitals or quarantine facilities, should the need arise, the senior official said