Only 54 ICU beds available for COVID patients in Delhi hospitals: Data

New Delhi, April 19

The number of ICU beds available for coronavirus patients in Delhi hospitals on Monday dropped to 54, according to government data.

Of the 4,377 ICU beds for COVID-19 patients in government and private hospitals across the city, 4,323 were occupied around 8 pm on Monday, according to data from the city government’s Delhi Corona application.

Only two hospitals—Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital and Madhukar Rainbow Children Hospital in Malviya Nagar—have more than 10 ICU beds available.

Of the 19,322 normal beds available for COVID patients, 3,288 are unoccupied, it showed.

Delhi recorded over 25,500 cases on Sunday, the highest single-day tally since the pandemic began.

The city has registered 1,46,934 cases in the last 10 days. The positivity rate has shot up from 7.79 per cent on April 9 to 29.74 per cent on April 18.

Meanwhile, hours after a weekend curfew ended Monday morning, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a six-day lockdown, till 5 am on April 26, in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.

He said Delhi’s health system is under stress but has not collapsed yet despite around 25,000 cases coming up every day.

Hospitals in the city are grappling with shortage of oxygen supply and crucial drugs.

The government has been exploring options to set up COVID hospitals in schools and COVID care shelters in gated housing societies. — PTI