Hindu Rao, Swami Dayanand should be converted into COVID hospitals: Kejriwal

New Delhi [India], April 15 (ANI): Amid the rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD)-run hospitals -- Hindu Rao and Swami Dayanand -- should be declared fully COVID-19 hospitals and all assistance, including funds, would be provided to them.
He further appealed to the Centre to increase the bed capacity in Centre-run hospital in the national capital by over 2,000.
"The two MCD hospitals - Hindu Rao and Swami Dayanand Hospital should be declared as fully COVID, which will lead to an increase of 900 beds for the treatment of patients in Delhi. There should be full cooperation and no politics on the matter. Delhi government will provide every possible help to the MCD hospitals, including funds," Kejriwal said after convening the review meeting on the current COVID-19 situation in Delhi as per a statement.
The Delhi government also requested the Centre to increase and make 2,700 beds from Central government hospitals available for the treatment of Coronavirus patients.
According to the statement, there are currently around 15,048 beds for COVID-19 patients, of which over 5,000 beds are empty.
The Chief Minister further directed officials to ensure adequate health infrastructure for the treatment of patients, saying, "Our focus is increasing the bed capacity as much as possible, government and private hospitals should aim towards linking more banquet halls and facilities, require time-bound preparation plan."
He also said no patient should be turned back from getting admitted to the hospitals and patients must be advised appropriate care based on their situation.
"We must issue an order to allow directing the patients to our COVID Care Centres (CCCs), to make the patient feel safe and in the care of the doctors. More and more patients should be shifted to these centres to cater to very critical patients in the hospitals," the statement quoted the Chief Minister.
He further said all helpline numbers should remain functional 24X7 and hospitals must be directed to ensure an adequate flow of information on the real-time availability of beds.
"In the meeting, special focus was laid on the three-tier arrangement of health infrastructure in Delhi, of which first is home isolation, second is Covid Care Centres, and third is an increase in beds and facilities in hospitals in Delhi," the statement added.
Regarding COVID-19 vaccinations, Kejriwal said there was a dearth of Remdesivir injections in Delhi, and about 18,000 injections would be made available by April 18.
"However, realizing the gravity of the situation, CM Arvind Kejriwal directed officials to prepare an action plan to ensure that there is no dearth and no stocking of injections at any facility in Delhi. Along with this, the current number of ambulances available with the Delhi government is 629, and the current response time is 14 minutes, with no refusals recorded," the statement added.
Delhi reported the highest single-day spike on Wednesday with 17,282 fresh COVID-19 infections and 104 related deaths.
According to the latest state health bulletin on Wednesday evening, the total infection caseload of Delhi has reached 7,67,438. There are 50,736 active cases here as of today. The overall COVID-19 death toll of the national capital now stands at 11,540. (ANI)