Delhi govt orders hospitals to reserve 80% ICU beds to COVID patients | Fusion - WeRIndia

Considering the increasing number of coronavirus cases in Delhi, the government instructed big private hospitals to reserve at least 80 per cent of ICU beds for COVID patients.

To increase the ICU bed capacity for COVID patients in the national capital, the Delhi government yesterday ordered 33 private hospitals with 50 or more beds to reserve 80 per cent of ICU beds for them. The order came into force with an immediate effect.

The number of coronavirus cases has been increasing in the national capital since the last week of August.

Several patients are facing problems with ICU beds in private hospitals. As the ICU beds in private hospitals are fully occupied, to prevent a shortage of beds for COVID patients, the government decided to reserve ICU beds for them.

Delhi witnessed the highest single-day spike of coronavirus cases with 4,321 infections on Saturday in 24 hours. The national capital crossed more than 2.14 lakh with these new infections. Before that, the highest number of cases were reported on Thursday with 4,308 infections. Delhi reported at least 4,000 COVID cases per day in the last four days.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that 50 per cent of beds are available in the hospitals and the government instructed to increase bed capacity by 30 per cent for COVID patients. As per Delhi Corona app, 7,938 beds are vacant. He added that the state-run and Centre-run hospitals have enough beds for these patients.

To provide a safe journey to domestic and international passengers, Delhi International Airport Limited launched a testing facility at Terminal-3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. It is the first such testing facility in the country.

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