Thyagaraj, Talkatora among stadia Delhi panel says can be used as hospitals

The suggestion assumes significance in light of the government’s projection that Covid-19 cases in Delhi may cross 5 lakh by the end of July, for which at least 80,000 beds will be required. Delhi, which has 17,712 active cases, currently has 8,975 beds across government and private hospitals.

The number of beds is likely to increase by around 2,000 by June 15, the L-G was informed. This increase will come with the plan to operationalise a new 450-bed hospital at Burari and the attachment of premier hotels with existing Covid-dedicated hospitals, officials said.

Baijal directed the panel to ramp up medical infrastructure “fast”, the L-G House said in a statement. However, he also reminded the officials that the projections for augmentation of infrastructure should be “realistic”, commensurate with human resources requirements to man those additional facilities.

Even on June 1, the DDMA had directed all the 11 DMs of the state to identify, “on top most priority”, facilities where additional beds can be put up. However, as on Tuesday, very little progress has been made on this front, senior officials conceded.

The Health Department told the L-G at the DDMA meeting that the case fatality rate (proportion of deaths among confirmed cases) in Delhi is 2.92 per cent, as compared with the national average of 2.81 per cent, while the recovery rate stands at 38 per cent. Cases are doubling every 12.6 days in the city.

Out of the total number of hospital beds, which is a little over 8,900, the number of beds with ventilator support for critical patients is 468, apart from 582 ICU beds. Oxygen support is attached with 3,590 beds, the L-G was told.

“The principal secretary (health) informed the LG that the department is extending COVID Hospitals by linking big hospitals and nearby 5/4 star hotels. The price of beds at such facilities will be capped at Rs 10,000 per day. The hotels will provide beds, housekeeping, food as well as medical services. In addition, District Magistrates are carrying out the exercise of linking 19 more hospitals with hotels, which would tentatively increase the capacity by another 2000 beds by June 15,” the L-G House added in a statement.

Significantly, the L-G is also learnt to have advised the local administrative officials to “take lessons” from the best practices in tackling the pandemic from other cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Banglore.