Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that there have been 3,500 new corona cases and around 2,500 patients have recovered in the last week since the relaxations on the corona lockdown have been announced.
He also said that around 2,000 new beds have been added in 117 private hospitals, along with 2,500 beds currently available in the Government hospitals in Delhi.
This may be noted that 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 corona patients whereas currently 2,000 beds available in Government hospitals and 2500 beds available in private hospitals in Delhi.
Addressing a digital Press conference in Delhi, Kejriwal said, “It has been a week since some relaxations were given on May 17 and after a period of one week, I 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 collapsing of our whole healthcare system. I have been saying this time and again, 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.”
Citing the health bulletin report, he further said that there were 13,418 cases in Delhi till yesterday, 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-19 dedicated hospitals in Delhi, there are 3,829 beds in government Covid-19 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 1478 beds out of 3829 beds are currently occupied. Around 2500 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 added.
As per the data, there are currently 677 beds in private hospitals, out of which 509 have been occupied.
“Most of the new cases of Covid-19 have mild symptoms such as a mild fever and cough, and many of them are asymptomatic. These cases do not need to be admitted into the hospitals and are advised to follow home isolation. My team stays in regular touch with them and their families for monitoring their symptoms,” Kejriwal said.
CM Kejriwal said, “Today, 3314 people are being treated through home isolation and around 2000 people are being treated in the hospitals. We are also preparing around 1500 beds fully equipped with oxygen facilities in GTB Hospital. This will lead to a total of 5500 beds available for Corona treatment in Delhi. We are fully prepared to handle the surge in serious cases of Corona.”
Announcing the change in the number of cases in the last one week since some relaxations on Corona lockdown were given, he said that there were 9755 COVID+ve patients in Delhi as on May 17, and there are 13418 cases today, which means that there has been a rise of around 3500 patients in the last week.
He said, “Around 2500 patients have also recovered in the last week, which is a positive development for Delhi. Similarly, there were 1750 patients in the hospitals on May 17, and today there are 2000 patients in the hospitals, which means that the occupancy of only 250 beds has increased in the last week.”
Kejriwal also warned hospitals of serious action in case they deny treatment to any Corona positive patient. “A patient visited the private hospital a few days back because of some breathing issues, and his test was conducted two days later. When the results came out to be positive, he was denied treatment in the same private hospital because he was found to be Corona positive. Where will the patient go? No hospital can deny treatment to any patient. We have issued a show-cause notice to the private hospital. It is the responsibility of the hospital that if any patient is found to be positive, the hospital ambulance should take the patient to any private and government hospital to ensure that he is being treated,” he said.
Kejriwal said, “There has been a surge in cases, but the situation is under control as most of the cases have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. They are being treated under home isolation, and patients in hospitals are also being taken care of.”