Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday informed about his government's preparedness amid the surging COVID-19 cases in the national capital and said that there are 37,000 oxygen beds available in the city with only 0.22 per cent of them occupied at present.
Addressing a press conference here, Kejriwal said, "Today we have the preparation of 37,000 beds. Only 82 oxygen beds are occupied in Delhi. Only 0.22 per cent of beds are occupied and 99.78 per cent of beds are unoccupied."
The Chief Minister further urged the people not to panic as the cases being detected are mostly asymptomatic with lesser need of hospitalisation.
"On December 29, 262 beds were occupied in New Delhi's hospital by the COVID patients. On January 1, 247 patients were admitted in total. It means the people who are getting infected with COVID, most of them are not having the need to be hospitalised. There are mild and asymptomatic cases," he said.
"COVID-19 cases in Delhi is increasing at a fast pace. But there is no need to panic. On December 29, 923 cases were reported. 1,313 cases were detected on December 30, 1,796 cases on December 31, and 2,796 cases on January 1. Nearly 3,100 new cases are expected to be reported today. The active cases as of today stand at 6,360," Kejriwal added.
Comparing the present scenario with the second wave last year, he said, "Today there are about 6300 active cases. There were about 6600 cases on 27 March. But then 1150 oxygen beds were occupied, whereas today only 82 beds are occupied. Then 145 ventilators were being used, today only 5 are being used. Then there were about 10 deaths every day, today there is one or no death reported in a day."
Meanwhile, India reported 27,553 new COVID-19 cases and 284 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.
According to the ministry, the number of Omicron infections stands at 1,525 and it has spread to 23 states. Maharashtra is the worst-affected state with 460 cases, followed by Delhi with 351.
( With inputs from ANI )
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