Coronavirus in Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal says ready to deal with situation if there is spike in cases of COVID-19

The centre imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25 to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and it entered its fourth phase on May 18.

The COVID-19 situation in Delhi is under control, a week after several relaxations were given in the fourth phase of coronavirus-induced lockdown, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday. Kejriwal asserted that he would be concerned only if two things happened — either there is a significant increase in fatalities or the city’s health care system collapses due to spike in COVID-19 cases.

The chief minister further said that it is not a matter of concern if people are getting infected and recovering simultaneously from the dreaded virus as coronavirus will not go away in next one or two days. Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal, said his government was ready to deal with the situation if there is a spike in the number of serious cases in the national capital.

He said that there are currently 4,500 beds available for COVID-19 patients in both private and government hospitals and 2,000 new beds will be available in private facilities from Monday. He said that the AAP government is creating a system through which a COVID-19 patient will be able to find available beds in both state and private-run hospitals.

Kejriwal said that he was expecting a slight increase in COVID-19 cases when several relaxations were given in fourth phase of lockdown. “It has been one week since the (fourth phase) lockdown began. After one week, I can say that the situation is still under control and there is no need to panic,” he said, adding that there has been a slight increase in COVID-19 cases but it is not matter of concern.

According to him, there were 9,755 COVID-19 cases in Delhi on May 17 and the number climbed to 13,418 with around 3,500 cases being recorded within seven days of implementation of fourth phase of lockdown. However, 2,500 people have also recovered from the virus during this period, Kejriwal said, adding that only 250 patients were admitted to hospitals in last seven days

“I will be concerned when two things happen. First, there is significant increase in death cases and second thing is collapse of health care system due to sudden spike in cases due to which no bed is available in hospitals…,” he said
During the briefing, the chief minister said that 261 people have died of coronavirus in the city which has so far recorded 13,418 cases. Of these, 6,540 have recovered while 6,617 are active cases, he said.

“Government hospitals have 3,829 beds for COVID-19 patients and of these, only 1,478 beds are occupied. Around 2,500 beds are still available. In government hospitals, we have 250 ventilators out of which 11 are occupied,” he said.

On Sunday, Delhi government directed private hospitals and nursing homes with a capacity of 50 beds or more to reserve 20 per cent of their total bed strength for coronavirus patients. Kejriwal said that with this move, 2,000 new beds will be available in private hospitals. The chief minister said 3,314 coronavirus patients are getting treatment at their house while 2,000 are admitted at hospitals.

The government has issued a show-cause notice to a private hospital that denied treatment to a patient who later tested positive for COVID-19, Kejriwal said. “It is the hospital’s duty to provide an ambulance to such patients and take them to a COVID-19-dedicated hospital,” he said. He said that in Delhi, most COVID-19 patients are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. The chief minister said that the government has decided to reserve 1,500 beds for COVID-19 patients in state-run GTB Hospital.