New Delhi, Apr 20 (IANS): In an effort to allay fear and panic amid the critical Covid-19 situation in the national capital, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said that doctors were regularly visiting the dedicated wards in hospitals across the city, wearing PPE kits.

Sisodia's remarks came after several there were complaints of mismanagement in government hospitals, including the shortage of beds and doctors not visiting wards.

"Directors and health staff are working hard to bring the situation back to normal in Delhi. Doctors are regularly visiting the Covid-19 wards in all hospitals wearing PPE kits. But some people have started complaining that doctors were not attending patients. I will request people not to put a bad image of Delhi's hospitals and doctors and do not panic," Sisodia said while addressing a press conference.

This is Sisodia's first press conference after he also took charge as Nodal Minister for Covid-19 management of Delhi last week.

He along with Health Minister Satyendar Jain has been inspecting several gvernment and private hospitals in an effort to improve the city's health management which has reached at its limit.

Sisodia informed that number of beds in Delhi have been increased to 19,000 from 6,000. An additional 2,700 beds will be added in the next two or three days.

A day after he announced a total lockdown in Delhi that started at 10 p.m. on Monday until April 16, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday urged the people of the city to follow lockdown rules and help in breaking the Covid chain.

On Monday, the national capital eported record 24 deaths due to Covid-19, the highest since the pandemic last year, and 23,686 new cases with a positivity rate of 26.12 per cent.