COVID Cases Rise in Delhi: How Hospitals Getting Ready to Tackle Situation With Oxygen, PPE Kits, ICU Beds

Delhi Coronavirus Latest Update: The Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi said it is getting ready to tackle the COVID situation and has arranged beds for patients and made other arrangements including oxygen and testing.

New Delhi: A day after the national capital reported two fresh COVID cases, various hospitals in the city have sprung into action and made elaborate arrangement to tackle situation if corona cases continue to rise. Earlier, AIIMS Delhi had issued guidelines for various departments of the hospital on how to manage COVD situation.

Medical Superintendent of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital said the reports of the positive cases have been sent for genome sequencing to confirm instances of the sub-variant, JN.1. Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj asserted that there are no new cases of JN.1 subvariant of COVID in Delhi at present after one patient infected with the virus was discharged on Thursday.

According to the Union Health Ministry data, India recorded 692 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. The total active caseload increased by four, reaching 4,097, the health ministry data said.

Safdarjung Hospital Prepares 50 Beds For Isolations

Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi is getting ready to tackle the situation and has reserved beds for patients and made other arrangements including oxygen and testing.

The hospital administration has reserved 50 beds for isolations, and 9 ICU beds. Apart from this, complete arrangements have also been made in the hospital regarding oxygen, PPE kits, and COVID testing.

Senior pulmonologist and former Safdarjung Hospital HOD, Dr Neeraj Gupta, said, “JN.1 is a variant of Omicron. It is a very mild virus. The only advantage this virus has because of this mutation is that it crosses our immune barriers and is able to infect us with a normal infection. Like any viral infection, this is also mild; it is not of a very severe nature, and we are not expecting any admissions or higher admission rates.”

Separate help desks have been set up for COVID-19 patients, along with a dedicated testing centre in the hospital. Immediate treatment will be given upon confirmation of Covid. Directives have been issued to maintain readiness in all Delhi government hospitals. The Delhi Health Minister is continuously monitoring the situation.

Lady Hardinge Hospital Reserves 48 Beds

Lady Hardinge Hospital is also getting ready to treat patients and has reserved 48 beds for the patients. Apart from this, six ICU beds and a ward with 30 beds have also been reserved for Covid patients in the new building of Lady Hardinge Hospital.

Additionally, 12 beds have been reserved for paediatric patients in Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital, which comes under Lady Hardinge Medical College.

Recently, the Director of the hospital also held a meeting with all the stakeholders and information was taken regarding all the arrangements related to COVID-19. Given the increasing cases, the hospital has made it mandatory for all healthcare workers to wear masks.

AllMS Delhi Issues Guidelines For Covid Patients

On December 27, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) of Delhi has issued guidelines for Covid-19 suspected or positive cases that will be reported at hospitals following the sudden surge in the cases of Coronavirus in the country.

As per the policy on COVID-19 testing, directed by the management, testing will be done for patients with SARI (severe acute respiratory infection) like symptoms that include according to the WHO, acute respiratory infection, persistent fever or fever of >= 38 C° with cough and onset within last 10 days.

The hospital further asked all the departments at the institution to make provisions in their respective designated wards to manage in-patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.

“12 beds in the C6 ward will be earmarked for hospitalization of seriously ill COVID-19 patients,” the memorandum said.