New Delhi, May 25 (IANS): With about 1,500 new beds at the GTB hospital soon, Delhi will have a total of 5,500 beds at government hospitals available for coronavirus treatment, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.
Speaking to the media, Kejriwal said currently, there are 2,500 vacant beds in government hospitals, out of about 4,000 beds.
"We are preparing around 1,500 beds fully equipped with oxygen facilities in GTB Hospital. This will lead to a total of 5,500 beds (at government hospitals) available for coronavirus treatment in Delhi. We are fully prepared to handle the surge in serious cases of Covid," Kejriwal said.
He said that around 2,000 new beds have been added in 117 private hospitals from Monday.
"On Sunday, the Delhi government had issued an order that 117 private hospitals of Delhi should save at least 20 per cent of their beds for the treatment of coronavirus patients. This implies that around 2,000 new beds have been made available in the private hospitals from Monday."
He said this gives a huge convenience to people who want to be treated in private hospitals.
Kejriwal said it has been a week since some relaxations were given on May 17 and after a period of one week, he can say that the situation is under control and there is no need to worry.
"We had expected a sudden rise in the number of cases after the relaxations and the same has happened, but there is no need to worry. The situation will get worrisome in two cases, first, if there is a steady rise in the death rate, and second if the cases are so severe that it leads to the collapse of our whole healthcare system."
Kejriwal said he had been saying that there should be no deaths and people should recover and go back to their homes as soon as possible.
"It would be a troublesome situation if the number of severe patients increases to the extent that there is a non-availability of beds, oxygen, ventilators, and other healthcare infrastructure."
Kejriwal said that there were 13,418 cases in Delhi till Sunday, out of which 6,540 cases have recovered and 6,617 are active cases. There have been 261 deaths.
He said that for the status of COVID-dedicated hospitals in Delhi, there are 3,829 beds in government COVID hospitals, out of which 3,164 beds have oxygen availability.
"I stress the term oxygen, because there is no cure to COVID-19 currently, and there is a need to supply oxygen to severe COVID-19 patients as their respiratory rate decreases when they become infected. Only 1,478 beds out of 3,829 beds are currently occupied. Around 2,500 beds are still unoccupied. There are 250 ventilators available in the government hospitals, out of which 11 ventilators are being currently used and around 240 remain unused."
He said till Sunday there were 677 beds in private hospitals, out of which 509 were occupied. He also said there are currently 72 ventilators in private hospitals, out of which only 15 are being used until now.
"We are fully prepared to handle the surge in serious cases of corona."