Record 277 Covid-19 deaths, 28,395 cases in Delhi in 24 hrs

1,100 deaths in city in last 6 days, positivity mounts to 32.82%

New Delhi, April 20: A record 28,395 coronavirus cases and 277 deaths marked the aggravation of the pandemic situation in Delhi on Tuesday as the positivity rate shot up to 32.82 per cent — meaning every third sample came out positive — amid a “serious oxygen crisis” unfolding in the city.

The city also faced acute shortage of ICU beds as the Delhi government warned that there will be an outrage if sufficient quantity of medical oxygen does not reach health facilities by Wednesday morning. It said oxygen is available only for the next 8-12 hours in most hospitals treating Covid-19 patients.

Only 30 ICU beds for Covid patients were available in hospitals across Delhi at 10 pm, according to government data.

The national capital has reported 1,100 deaths due to the deadly virus in the last six days.

On Monday, Delhi had recorded 23,686 cases with a positivity rate of 26.12 per cent and 240 fatalities. It had witnessed 25,462 cases with a positivity rate of 29.74 per cent on Sunday, while the day before 24,375 COVID-19 infections and 167 fatalities were reported.

The city had witnessed 161 deaths on Sunday, 167 on Saturday, 141 on Friday and 112 on Thursday.

With the fresh cases, the national capital’s cumulative tally has risen to 9,05,541. The death toll stands at 12,638, according to the latest health bulletin.

A total of 86,526 tests, including 56,724 RT-PCR ones, were conducted the previous day, it said.

So far, over 8.07 lakh patients have recovered in Delhi, the bulletin said, adidng the number of active cases in the city increased to 85,575 from 76,887 the day before.

The number of people under home isolation increased to 40,124 from 37,337 on Monday, while that of containment zones mounted to 17,151 from 15,039 the day before, it said.

Only 2,426 Covid-19 beds are available at hospitals in Delhi at present, health minister Satyendar Jain said on Tuesday, assuring that the city government was increasing the number of beds for coronavirus patients at a fast pace. The details of the available beds can be found on the Delhi Corona app, he told reporters here.

Jain said the Delhi government was making efforts to increase the number of beds, and approximately 1,000-1,500 beds are being added every day.

“There were about 6,000 beds on April 8, which has been increased to close to 19,000 as of Tuesday. The Delhi government has increased beds more than three times in the last 1012 days,” he said.

“Today Covid-19 hospitals have 18,923 beds, and out of that, 2,426 are available. Beds are being increased in many centres by attaching them to hospitals,” Jain added.

The Delhi health minister said Covid-19 beds have also been added to several other centres, including the Commonwealth Games Village.

“We are increasing the number of beds by associating them with all the hospitals of the state government,” he said.

The minister further said the Delhi government has appealed to the Centre to allow remdesivir drug to be supplied by all companies so that its shortage can be mitigated.

“There is a shortage of remdesivir in the entire country. We probably have 12 to 14 companies in the country for this. If the central government allows all these to manufacture, then its shortage will end. Strict action will be taken against whoever indulges in black-marketing of these,” Jain added.

Speaking about rising Covid-19 cases, the minister said Delhi was conducting five times more tests than the average in the country.

He said the city government would prepare extensively for vaccination by increasing the number of inoculation centres. There are already more than 500 such centres in Delhi, Jain added.

Jain also claimed that if the Centre allowed the city government to open vaccination centres in schools and community centres in the national capital, it will be able to complete the inoculation drive at a steadier rate.