Delhi : As ICU beds fill up fast, govt allays fears

New Delhi: In the 21 days of September till Monday, there were 74,511 new cases of Covid-19 infection in Delhi for an average of 3,548 per day. The death toll in the same period was 570. Given this surge, the Covid-designated hospitals are suddenly under pressure. However, on Monday, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain attributed the rising occupancy of Covid beds to an influx of critical patients from outside Delhi, and said there was no shortage with over a thousand ICU beds still available.

“Those coming to Delhi from other states are mostly patients who need intensive care. Over 1,500 outsiders are currently admitted in ICU wards in Delhi,” Jain said. “The outstation patients come having planned in advance to visit a particular hospital. That is why information about the supposed shortage of ICU beds in some private hospitals is emerging. But there are nearly 1,000 ICU beds that are unoccupied.”

On Monday, at 8.30pm, only 38% of ICU beds with a ventilator and 29% of ICU beds without a ventilator were vacant. Covid patients from Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and several other states are rushing to Delhi due to lack of confidence in the healthcare system in their own states and getting admitted both to private and government hospitals in the capital.

Among public hospitals, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Deep Chand Bandhu, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Northern Railway Central hospitals didn’t have a single ICU bed (without ventilator) vacant on Monday. Sir Ganga Ram, Apollo, Maharaja Agrasen, Fortis Shalimar Bagh, Sri Balaji Action and Aakash Healthcare were among the private hospitals in a similar position. Most severely ill Covid patients require oxygen therapy and continuous monitoring of vital parameters for timely medical intervention based on the symptoms or complications.

With the bed demand rising, Jain said that in the past 10 days, around 1,000 beds were added in Covid hospitals and this would be increased. The government recently revealed that more than 500 ICU beds were added in private hospitals in a week.

The health minister also clarified that there was no crisis of convalescent plasma in Delhi. “Those needing plasma can approach the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences plasma bank. There is no shortage,” Jain said. Delhi government has opened two plasma banks, the second at Lok Nayak Hospital, which, however, uses convalescent plasma to treat only in-house patients.

The Covid toll crossed 5,000 mark in Delhi on Monday, with 32 more deaths reported in the last 24 hours to bring the total to 570 in the 21 days of September. To the 74,511 infections detected during this period, Delhi logged 2,548 new cases on Monday to take the tally to over 2.49 lakh. Monday’s tally was lower than the numbers reported during the course of the month, but it could be due to the fewer tests conducted — 33,733 of which 8,828 were RT-PCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat and 24,905 rapid antigen — in the last 24 hours.

The capital now has 30,941 active cases of Covid-19, of which 19,213 (62%) are in home isolation. Those hospitalised numbered 7,069 (23%). A doctor said, “Asymptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms are isolating themselves at home. Only those with moderate to severe symptoms are in hospitals, with many requiring ICU care.”

The doctor warned that if new cases continued to grow at the current rate, there could be a crisis of beds for the critically-ill. “There is a significant increase in cases of patients suffering from dengue or dengue and Covid both. This is creating extra pressure on the health infrastructure,” the doctor said.