COVID-19 'situation still under control', govt will set up ICU beds on large scale, says Kejriwal

As coronavirus cases continued to spiral in the national capital and crossed the 77,000 mark on Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government will set up ICU beds on a large scale, but asserted that the COVID-19 situation in the city was “still under control”.

The national capital saw 3,460 cases on Friday, taking the coronavirus count to 77,240. With 63 fresh deaths, the toll climbed to 2,492. There are 27,675 active cases in Delhi. 

The Delhi government has also formed at least 1,100 teams comprising two members each to conduct a mammoth exercise to screen the national capital's population for the novel coronavirus, officials of the revenue department said.

The survey has already commenced in some districts. According to a revised COVID-19 response plan issued by the Delhi government, the house-to-house screening will be completed by June 30 in containment zones and the deadline for the rest of Delhi is July 6.

Addressing an online media briefing earlier in the day, Kejriwal said Delhi had reported around 74,000 cases till Thursday. Of them, 45,000 patients have recovered.

With 3,390 fresh instances, the total number of coronavirus cases stood at 73,780 on Thursday. The death toll was 2,429.

The rise in the number of cases is a matter of concern but there is no need to panic as the COVID-19 situation is "still under control", Kejriwal asserted.

He said Delhi has largely reported mild cases over the past week and that's why out of the total 13,500 beds in hospitals only 6,000 have been occupied.

"We have increased our capacity of testing by three times and hence, cases are rising in the city... If we conduct 1-2 lakh tests daily in the coming days, it is natural to observe a spike in the number of coronavirus cases," he said.

At the LNJP Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital and GTB Hospital, the government is going to set up more ICU beds on a large scale, he said, adding, the administration has already set up 3,500 beds for COVID-19 patients in hotels in the last 10 days.

Kejriwal said his Cabinet held a meeting on Friday and a decision to set up 450 additional beds at Burari Hospital was taken, adding that funds were sanctioned for it.

Even though there is no sudden requirement of beds in hospitals, the Delhi government was working round-the-clock to ensure more beds are added in the foreseeable future, he said. 

The chief minister also said COVID-19 patients under home isolation have been given pulse oximeters and that this will act as a "Suraksha Kawach" against the disease.

On plasma therapy, he said the government has got permission to conduct it on 200 patients. 

The Delhi government-run LNJP and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality hospitals will conduct the trials. Private hospitals have also sought permission to conduct plasma therapy, he said.

On the house-to-house surveys, the Delhi government has formed at least 1,100 teams having two members each to conduct a mega exercise to screen the national capital's population for the novel coronavirus.

An official said around 100 teams have been formed in every district and each team has accredited social health activists (ASHA) and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM). The government will also engage domestic breeder checkers, sanitation workers and teachers of municipal corporations for the surveys if it requires their services in the coming days, the official added. 

This is a "trust-based" exercise, the official said, adding, "We cannot force somebody to undergo the test. We only update information based on reply to our questionnaire. We conduct rapid antigen test on those who have COVID-19-like symptoms."

According to the 2011 Census, there were around 34.35 lakh households which included 33.56 lakh households in urban areas and 79,574 in rural areas in the national capital.

Every team is armed with a mobile application -- 'SS Corona' app -- which will send real-time details to a dedicated portal set up by the government.

Apart from basic details like name, age, address and contact, the teams are feeding the 'SS Corona' app with information such as every individual's travel history, whether or not they use the Aarogya Setu app, and if they have symptoms of flu. 

The official said the same mobile application was being used for carrying out screening at containment zones in the national capital. 

In a related development, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief S S Deswal visited the newly created COVID-19 care facility here with over 10,000 beds and reviewed its preparedness.

The large Radha Soami Beas establishment in Chhatarpur area of the national capital, as per officials, will have two segments -- a COVID care centre (CCC) where asymptomatic positive cases will be treated and a dedicated COVID healthcare centre (DCHC). 

The border guarding force took over the centre on Wednesday after being directed by the Union Home Ministry to act as the nodal agency. 

Three Indian Army medical teams each comprising one medical officer, two nursing assistants and one ambulance have been assigned to function at the COVID care facility at the Shakurbasti railway station.