The ongoing lockdown in Delhi has been extended by another week, with the national capital still showing a high positivity rate despite a marginal drop in the daily coronavirus figures.

However, people in the national capital will have a sigh of relief as the Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre (SPCCC) at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in South Delhi will resume operation on April 26 from 10 am.

The ‘Standard For Admission’ of patients will be strictly followed and all laid down protocols will also be adhered to, the South District administration said, adding that the patients will be referred by respective District Surveillance Officer (DSO) of respective Delhi Districts. No walk in admission will be made.

“Patients will have to first report at the reception after initial documentation, their physical examination will be done thereafter he or she will be admitted to the Hospital at their allotted bed. A kit will be provided to them after their admission,” it said.

All medical treatment, medicines, food and other facilities will be provided free of cost here and services including stress counselling will also be provided.

The facility has being revived considering the unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases, a senior official associated with the facility said.

“We are ready with a 500-bed facility at the SPCCC with the help from the MHA, medical and paramedical staffers from the ITBP have been deployed. We have all the equipment, drugs and consumables,” he said.

The 10,200-bed facility was inaugurated on July 5 last year and was operated by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). The centre was 1,700-feet-long and 700-feet-wide – roughly the size of 20 football fields – and had 200 enclosures with 50 beds each.

It was closed in February when the number of cases in Delhi had reduced significantly. The facility had admitted patients referred by 11 city hospitals, including the AIIMS and the Safdarjung Hospital.

The national Capital reported a staggering 357 deaths on Saturday due to Covid-19 as hospitals in the national Capital continued to grapple with a severe shortage of medical oxygen.