New Delhi, May 12 (IANS): Amid the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic assuming dangerous proportions, an additional 500 Intensive Care Unit (ICU)-bed facility is being set up at Ramlila Maidan in the national Capital in front of the Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital which will be operational from Thursday onwards.

Due to shortage of oxygen, Covid medicines, plasma etc. in the national Capital, the patients are facing severe difficulties.

Earlier, a 500-ICU bed facility had been started at Ramlila Ground near Guru Tegh Bahadur hospital in Delhi. The health care infrastructure in Delhi is crumbling due to the large number of Covid patients admitted to hospitals.

Suresh Kumar, Medical Director of LNJP Hospital, speaking to IANS said,"As many as 500 ICU beds are going to be set up here. This Covid care centre will be equipped with all requisite facilities in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines."

This Covid centre will comprise 100 doctors and 150 nurses. They are being imparted the necessary training. The good news about this centre is that two tanks are being equipped with oxygen. Yesterday, an oxygen tank was also refilled. Now oxygen will be provided through central pipes to all beds.

Kumar said Covid patients will first come to the LNJP hospital after which the doctors will decide whether they will need ICU beds or not based on their health condition. If a patient requires an ICU bed urgently, we will admit him to the ICU bed facility of Ramlila Maidan.

According to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, after the commissioning of additional oxygen beds, people will not feel the shortage of ICU and oxygen beds anymore.

Kejriwal said given the possibility of a third pandemic wave, the government will have to ramp up the basic health infrastructure system. "We are preparing health infrastructure on a large scale."

"If there are even 30,000 Covid positive cases during the third wave of the pandemic we are ready to deal with it," he added.