DELHI GETS 1,163 NEW CASES
NEWDELHI: Delhi reported over 1,000 cases of Covid-19 for the third day in a row. On Saturday, 1,163 cases were recorded, taking the total number of cases in the city to 18,549.
At the current pace, the city is likely to cross the 20,000-mark by Monday.
With the sharp increase in the number of cases over the last three days, the number of active Covid-19 cases has gone over 10,000 for the first time. It was 10,058 on Saturday.
NEW DELHI : Delhi is several steps ahead of the coronavirus disease and by June 5, will have in place 9,500 hospital beds for Covid-19 patients, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday as the national capital reported 1,163 new cases of the infection, crossing the threshold of 1,000 for the third day in a row.
As on Saturday, the national Capital had 18,549 cases, of which 10,058 were active cases and As 416 people have died of the disease.
Delhi has recorded a two-fold increase in Covid cases since May 14, a trend that is worrying, Kejriwal conceded. He urged residents not to panic because a a majority of the patients are either asymptomatic or show mild symptoms like cough, cold and fever.
He said most patients were recovering in their homes and had not admitted themselves in hospitals — with some not needing any medication.
“Being the chief minister of the people of Delhi, I want to assure you that we are four steps ahead of Covid-19, and are making arrangements way more than what is required for Delhi to fight the virus,” he said.
He held out an assurance that there was no shortage of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients and as of Saturday, as many as 4,500 beds were vacant.
“From the 4,500 beds we had last week, the government has now arranged a total of 6,600 beds for the treatment of Covid patients, out of which only 2,100 are occupied. In just a week, we arranged 2,100 beds. By June 5, Delhi will increase its bed capacity to 9,500 beds. We are even taking over hotels, where oxygen concentrators and beds are being arranged by hospitals,” he said.
For the first time, the government on Friday had notified five hotels to be fully used as “extended Covid hospitals” for patients with moderate symptoms on a payment basis, adding 1,000 beds. It also designated Deep
Chand Bandhu Hospital in Ashok Vihar-iv, Wazirpur and Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Narela as dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, increasing the number of beds in Delhi by another 400. GTB Hospital was asked to earmark 500 more beds for Covid patients.
In Saturday’s digital press briefing, the chief minister said the government will launch a dedicated mobile application and a website for people to check the availability of Covid-19 beds and ventilators in hospitals.
“Even though the health infrastructure in Delhi for Covid is fairly adequate for now, family members of patients are still facing difficulty and confusion remains regarding where to take a person for treatment. For the convenience of the people, we are developing an app that will be launched on Monday,” he said.