New Delhi, Nov 17 As Delhi faces the wrath of coronavirus infections, both government and private hospitals are left with only 10 per cent ICU beds with ventilators, which are extremely crucial for patients with severe disease.
According to Delhi government's corona application, 138 ICU beds with ventilators out of 1,349 are vacant, 283 ICU beds without ventilators out of 2,241 are free and 7,584 normal Covid-19 beds out of 16,874 are available.
About 10 per cent of the ICU beds with ventilators are vacant across the city, while 12 per cent of the ICU beds without ventilators are unoccupied, as per the latest data from the government's mobile app on Covid-related information.
This comes as a shock as 32 per cent of the ICU beds with ventilators, 31 per cent of ICU beds without ventilators were vacant till November 2.
As many as six government hospitals out of the 15 under Delhi and Central governments have zero ICU beds with ventilators. The rest are only left with 86 ventilator beds.
Those who have ran out of them include GTB Hospital, Sardar Patel Covid Army Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, and Northern Railway and Base Hospital.
"The number of patients are increasing since the last two weeks. There are 430 ICU beds in the hospital, out of which 390 are currently occupied. I believe that post-Diwali, the number of patients are increasing due to exposure," said Ritu Saxena, Medical Superintendent at the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital, told .
Similarly, 60 out of 81 private hospitals also have zero ICU beds with ventilators in the city. The ICU bed capacity in Delhi hospitals will be increased to over 6,000 in next 3-4 days from the existing 3,523 beds, the Health Ministry said a press briefing on Tuesday.
The capital city has been witnessing the third Covid-19 wave. On Monday, Delhi recorded 3,797 fresh coronavirus cases and 99 deaths. The highest single-day spike of 8,593 cases was recorded on November 11. The spike in cases has coincided with the festive season, pollution and the onset of winter.
On Sunday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that Covid-19 tests will be increased to over one lakh to 1.25 lakh. Moreover, the Centre has assured that 750 ICU beds will be made available at the DRDO centre. It will also help the Delhi government in getting BiPAP machines to increase the number of ICU beds in Delhi government facilities.
Besides this, the Delhi High Court recently allowed the state government to reserve 80 per cent ICU beds in 33 private hospitals for Covid-19 patients.
( With inputs from IANS )
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