Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday visited the GTB hospital of the Delhi Government to review the preparedness and facilities in the wake of rising corona cases in Delhi.
The Chief Minister said in a review meeting held with the doctors and the hospital administration, the doctors have agreed to increase the strength of the ICU beds by 232, which means that the total number of ICU beds in GTB hospital will become 400.
“Around 663 beds will be increased in other Delhi government hospitals in the next few days. Apart from this, with the Centre ensuring 750 additional ICU beds, around 1400 beds will be increased across hospitals in Delhi in the next few days. Even with a huge spike in cases today, the doctors and nurses of Delhi are doing a commendable job for the treatment of corona patients,” he said.
Briefing the media after the visit, Kejriwal said, "The corona cases have been rising in Delhi for the past few days, but overall, there is a sufficient number of beds in the hospitals in Delhi. If we leave some big private hospitals, there are an adequate number of beds available in government and private hospitals. However, there is a dearth of ICU beds in Delhi and we are making efforts to increase ICU beds. I have just convened a meeting with the doctors and the administration of the GTB hospital, the doctors here have agreed to increase 232 ICU beds in the next two days.”
Health Minister Satyender Jain has also convened a meeting with other hospitals, and we will increase around 663 ICU beds in other Delhi government hospitals in the next few days. “The Central government has assured us that the DRDO will increase another 750 ICU beds in the Central government hospitals, which means that we will have 1400 additional ICU beds in the next few days."
"Firstly, we have to take steps to decrease the number of Corona cases in Delhi, and secondly, we have to provide the best treatment to the Corona patients in Delhi. I agree that Delhi has the maximum number of Corona cases, but if we look at big cities across the world such as Italy, France, New York, Sweden, etc, the videos that surfaced when there were a high number of daily cases in these cities showed people lying on the roads and they were not able to avail beds in the hospitals. At that time, when New York reported 6300 cases in a single day, there were around 550 deaths. Our doctors have done a commendable job," he added.