Hospitals in Delhi not reserving beds to become Covid-only centres
The Delhi government said on Thursday that private hospitals facing challenges in earmarking 20% of their beds for Covid-19 patients will be declared as complete Covid-19 facilities, and ordered all institutions to discharge any mild or asymptomatic cases as concerns mounted over the city’s preparations to handle a surge in cases.
The announcement came a day after the administration declared three private facilities — Sir Ganga Ram hospital, Moolchand hospital and Saroj hospital — as Covid-19-only centres. The number of new infections rose past the 1,500 mark for the first time on Wednesday. On Thursday, Delhi registered 1,359 new cases.
“Five Delhi government-run hospitals have been designated for treating only Covid-19 patients, there are beds in central government hospitals, and 61 private hospitals have also earmarked the beds. Three private hospitals were designated as Covid-19 hospitals yesterday. However, some private hospitals are still facing some logistical problems in ensuring that there is no mixing of Covid-19 and non-covid-19 patients while reserving 205 beds. So, we have informed them if the challenges remain till tomorrow, we will declare these hospitals as Covid-19 only,” said Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday.
Later on Thursday, the Delhi government also asked 42 hospitals that received land at concessional rate from the government to reserve beds for the free treatment of poor patients with Covid-19. The number of free beds adds up to 298 in these hospitals.
The order by the directorate of health and family welfare on Thursday states these hospitals are to send a compliance report within three days of the order. The Delhi government on Wednesday declared 802 beds in three private hospitals – Moolchand hospital, Saroj hospital, and 80% of Sir Ganga Ram hospital– for Covid-19 treatment. On May 24, it directed 117 hospitals to set aside 20% of their beds for Covid-19 patients. According to Delhi government’s ‘Delhi Corona’ app, so far 72 private hospitals have Covid-19 beds.
On Thursday, the administration asked hospitals to discharge all mild and asymptomatic cases. “It has come to the notice that many asymptomatic and mild symptom cases have been admitted in the hospital facilities. Attention is invited to the guidelines of the MOHFW as well as this department which clearly state that asymptomatic and mild symptom cases do not need hospitalisation,” the order read.
“The government is working on increasing the dedicated Covid-19 facilities in the city. Initially, we had thought of reserving 20% beds in every hospital so that if a person with say heart disease tests positive they are not refused the treatment just because the hospital is not a Covid-19 hospital,” said Deputy chief minister
Manish Sisodia during the same press briefing. The minister also urged those with mild symptoms to stay at home and ensure that beds remain vacant for the severe cases in need of hospitalisation.
“Those who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms do not need to get hospitalised at all, they can recover in their homes. Only those with moderate to severe symptoms with elevated respiratory rate or low oxygen saturation rate need hospitalisation,” said Jain.
Till Wednesday, just over 62% of the active cases or those still with the infection in Delhi were under home isolation. And, about 25% of the active cases were admitted to the hospitals, the data released by the Delhi government showed.
The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) disease cases in Delhi exceeded the 25,000-mark on Thursday as the Capital added 1,359 new infections, continuing with the trend of reporting more than 1,000 cases daily.
The city recorded 44 more deaths from the respiratory illness that took its total fatalities to 650, according to the state’s official health bulletin. Out of these, 22 deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours and the remaining were added as part of a backlog cleared by the death audit committee.
With the exception of June 1, the Capital has been recording at least 1,000 new infections daily for the last eight days. Delhi is now in the third scenario for which an expert committee, set up in March-end, had advised the government to prepare for — 100 cases a day, 500 cases a day, and 1,000 cases a day. The government this week also set up a second 5-member expert committee to evaluate its preparedness to handle an increase in Covid-19 cases even as the Capital has been easing lockdown measures in accordance with the Centre’s ‘Unlock 1’ plan.
Delhi is also nearing the 10,000-mark in recoveries, with 9,898 patients having recovered from the disease till Thursday, according to the bulletin.