Govt to ramp up Covid-19 beds as Capital adds 992 fresh infections | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Govt to ramp up Covid-19 beds as Capital adds 992 fresh infections

By, New Delhi
Mar 31, 2021 03:23 AM IST

Nearly 29% of all beds reserved for Covid-19 treatment were occupied as on Tuesday evening, according to the state government’s Delhi Corona app.

With Covid-19 cases on the rise in the national capital, the state government has decided to increase the number of beds earmarked for the treatment of the viral infection, as the city added 992 fresh cases of the infection, at a positivity rate of 2.70%.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday tweeted about the increase of Covid-19 beds, and added that there was no cause for worry.(HT File Photo)
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday tweeted about the increase of Covid-19 beds, and added that there was no cause for worry.(HT File Photo)

Nearly 29% of all beds reserved for Covid-19 treatment were occupied as on Tuesday evening, according to the state government’s Delhi Corona app.

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There are currently just over 5,800 Covid-19 beds in the city, of which over 2,000 are Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds. Nearly 33% of the ICU beds were occupied as on Tuesday evening, according to the app.

While the city added fewer cases of the infection on Tuesday as compared to the previous day, this was primarily due to far fewer tests on account of Holi. According to Tuesday’s bulletin, which reflects data from the previous day, 36,757 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the city, down from 68,805 samples collected on Monday.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday tweeted about the increase of Covid-19 beds, and added that there was no cause for worry.

The number of hospitalisations in the city has doubled in less than two weeks – from 794 persons admitted as on March 18 to 1,584 on March 30. According to senior officials from Delhi’s health department, the number of beds will be augmented in both public and private sector hospitals.

The city had nearly 18,700 beds earmarked for the treatment of the viral infection in November when Delhi witnessed its third and worst surge in the number of cases, reporting 8,593 cases in a day at its peak. The beds were slowly freed up for the treatment of other ailments as the number of cases in the city dropped and the positivity rate dipped below 1% in December-end.

Also read | Delhi among top 10 worst-hit districts, says Union health ministry

An official of at least one major private hospital in the city said they are in the process of increasing the number of beds. It is, however, unclear whether they have received any orders from the Delhi government.

With the positivity rate on the rise, experts believe that the increase in the number of cases in the city is likely to continue. The positivity rate remained high at 2.70% on Tuesday. The average positivity rate for the last seven days stood at 1.8%, up from 0.9% the week before, and 0.56% the week before that. The positivity rate – which is indicative of the ongoing spread of the infection – had remained below 1% consecutively for 82 days between December 28 and March 19.

“The number of cases is likely to keep increasing for at least seven to 10 days now, especially after Holi. The increase in the number of cases happened mainly because of two reasons: First, the people who had protected themselves by staying at home during the previous surges started coming out when the number of cases had gone down in December and January. Second, everything opening up gave a signal to those who travel to the city for work or education that it is safe. This floating population increased the pool of people susceptible to the infection,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung hospital.

With four people dying of the viral infection according to the Tuesday bulletin, the daily fatality count remained lower than the seven deaths reported each day on average during the last seven days.

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