India News | Delhi Targets to Set Up 50,000 Oxygenated, 12,000 ICU Beds to Tackle 3rd Covid Wave

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) The Delhi government plans to have 50,000 oxygenated beds and 12,059 ICU beds for coronavirus patients in the city keeping into consideration the steep hike in the number of Covid infections.

There are 16,180 oxygenated beds and 3,619 ICU beds in hospitals in Delhi at present.

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According to the government's bed escalation plan, the number of oxygenated beds will be increased to 28,645 in the first phase, to 37,000 in the second phase and 50,000 in the third phase.

The number of ICU beds will be increased to 8,041 in the first phase, to 10,594 in the second phase and 12,059 in the third phase.

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Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier said his government has made preparations to handle one lakh patients, conduct three lakh tests daily and ensure availability of enough manpower, medicines and medical oxygen.

At a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday, officials said the city may need 28,000 oxygenated beds and 18,000 ICU beds in the worst-case scenario of 1 lakh new cases daily.

In case the city reports up to 75,000 new cases a day, 21,000 oxygenated beds and 13,500 ICU beds may be needed. If 50,000 cases a day are reported, 14,000 oxygenated beds and 7,200 ICU beds may be required, according to projections.

According to Sutra -- a mathematical model developed by scientists at IIT Kanpur and IIT Hyderabad -- Delhi is likely to record 35,000 to 70,000 infections at the peak of the third wave around January 15.

The government has repeatedly stressed that most Covid cases, this time, are mild or asymptomatic, not requiring hospitalisation.

Delhi logged 17 more deaths due to COVID-19 and 19,166 infections in a day as the positivity rate rose to 25 per cent, the highest since May 4 last year, according to the city health department's data on Monday.

A total of 1,912 Covid patients are in hospitals. Of them, 65 are on ventilator support, government data showed. The city currently has 65,803 active cases of which 44,028 are in home isolation.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)