In light of a rise in Covid cases across the country, three central-government-run hospitals in Delhi have earmarked beds for patients. While AIIMS has set aside two beds in every in-patient ward for seriously ill patients, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital have earmarked 48 and 59 beds respectively. This comes amid the newly discovered JN.1 sub-variant’s presence in several states. So far, Delhi has recorded 34 total active cases out of which three were reported in the last 24 hours. The Delhi government has also sent Covid positive samples for genome sequencing to labs at Lok Nayak Hospital and the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), officials said. Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said almost 400 RT-PCR tests are being conducted daily out of which the positivity rate is 1%. He added that so far, only four people are hospitalised in various Delhi government hospitals due to Covid. According to an AIIMS official, there are currently two patients at the institute who tested positive Tuesday. Designated cubicles will be earmarked in six wards for hospitalisation of seriously ill Covid patients coming to the AIIMS emergency. The official said beds will be available in the pulmonary medicine and geriatric medicine wards. In addition to this, beds will also be kept in the Mother & Child Block, and surgical block for the departments of Paediatrics, Paediatrics Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology. At Safdarjung Hospital, 50 beds with oxygen supply and 9 ICU beds in the Super Speciality Block of the building have been earmarked for Covid positive patients. An official from the hospital said a woman was admitted to the hospital due to Covid. At Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and associated hospitals, 30 beds for adult patients and six ICU beds have been earmarked. According to Dr Subhash Giri, Medical Director at LHMC, these beds have been allocated in the accident and emergency block while 12 paediatric beds have also been earmarked at Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital. “While no positive case has been reported yet, we have established three testing centres on campus. Testing labs are available as per ICMR guidelines, we are prepared logistically,” said Dr Giri. When contacted about hospital-wise preparedness at Delhi government hospitals, state health department officials did not respond. Bharadwaj had said on Monday, “We had a meeting with the Centre over the Covid situation and were informed that the number of cases is increasing in Southern states like Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. We have been conducting tests and seeing three to four cases per day on average. We have conducted mock drills and made all necessary arrangements.” There were 409 cases and three deaths reported in the country on Tuesday. There were 4,170 total active cases in India as of Tuesday morning, according to health ministry data. (edited by Nikitha Phyllis)
