This Article is From Nov 20, 2020

Delhi's Covid Response Gets A Boost, Over 300 Hospital Beds Added

The rising coronavirus cases in Delhi were attributed to the festive season, non-compliance of the COVID-19 safety behaviour and rising pollution in the city.

The spurt in coronavirus cases in Delhi has been recorded since October 28.

New Delhi:

As Delhi struggles to contain the surge in coronavirus cases that have left alarmingly few beds in government hospitals, authorities on Friday said they had added 205 ICU and 116 oxygenated beds.

"As many as 120 ventilators arrived from Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore, to be given to various hospitals while authorities have enhanced the capacity of daily RT-PCR tests in Delhi to 37,200 tests," a senior officer in the central government said.

According to him, since November 16, an additional 205 ICU beds were added in hospitals run by the central and Delhi governments as well as private hospitals. "As of now, altogether 116 oxygenated beds were added in Delhi's central government hospitals and AIIMS," he said.

The Delhi government has also launched a door-to-door survey for possible coronavirus patients.

On Thursday, a total of 30,735 RT-PCR tests were conducted in Delhi and the number of RT-PCR tests carried out on November 15 was just 12,055.

Delhi's coronavirus response has been strengthened significantly after Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting on November 15 and gave 12 instructions to contain the capital's new spike, central government officials said.

The spurt in coronavirus cases in Delhi has been recorded since October 28 when the daily rise breached the 5,000-mark for the first time and crossed the 8,000-mark on November 11.

Delhi recorded 7,546 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 5.1 lakh, even as 98 more fatalities pushed the number of deaths to 8,041.

The rising coronavirus cases in Delhi were attributed to the festive season, non-compliance of the COVID-19 safety behaviour and rising pollution in the city.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has asked for a survey of all private hospitals situated in the National Capital Region in Noida and Ghaziabad to know their capacity and the facilities they are offering to COVID-19 patients.

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