Delhi witnessed a record number of new COVID-19 cases for the fourth consecutive day with 17,282 fresh infections being reported in the last 24 hours, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Wednesday. The total number of cases stood at 7,67,438.
Also, 104 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths to 11,540. A total of 1,08,534 tests were done in a day, the bulletin also stated.
Of the total cases, 7,05,162 people have recovered and there are 50,736 active cases here at present.
High positivity rate
The test positivity, which is the percentage of people testing positive out of the total tests conducted, jumped to 15.92%, which is the highest in months.
Of the total 12,667 beds available for COVID-19 treatment, 66.1% were occupied.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain said there was no shortage of ventilator beds and that 95% of beds in COVID Care Centres are vacant.
According to a government website, however, only 155 (13.11%) of the 1,182 ventilators were free and 68 of 94 hospitals did not have any vacant ventilators at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Also, out of the 122 hospitals with ICU beds, 73 did not have any vacant ICU beds.
Of the total 3,411 ICU beds in these hospitals, only 427 ICU beds were free.
The highest number of ventilators were available at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (65), Lok Nayak Hospital (17), and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (10).
“Initially, when COVID-19 was encountered, ventilators were considered a primary health tool. But the truth is that a ventilator is the last resort. There are many levels before that, namely medication, home isolation, administering oxygen, Bi-pap, etc. There are a number of ventilator beds and if there’s a patient occupying it, then it is shown as engaged in the app. But there is no shortage of ventilators,” Mr. Jain said.
The Minister said that despite the steady increase in cases, the fatality rate has substantially reduced.
“In November 2020 it was between 2-3%, but it has now dropped down to less than 0.5%,” he said.
Mr. Jain also inspected Lok Nayak Hospital. “It has been instructed that sufficient ICU beds should be available for COVID-19 patients. I also met the family members of the patients. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is directly monitoring the situation of beds and facilities available for patients in Delhi government hospitals,” he said.
Fabiflu shortage
Kailash Gupta, president of the All India Chemist and Distributors Federation, said there is a shortage of Fabiflu tablets, which is used in COVID-19 treatment.
“Last year, there was high demand for Fabiflu and as cases decreased the demand also decreased and companies reduced production. Now, there is a sudden demand for the medicine and the supply could not cope up,” Mr. Gupta said.
He said that stocks of the tablet have started coming and they expect the situation to be stable within a week.
Gahlot tests positive
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Wednesday, said he has tested positive for COVID-19, and advised those who came in contact with him to take precautions.
The Minister was administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on April 7.
“I have tested positive for Covid-19 today. I have home isolated myself. All those who came in contact with me recently please take necessary precautions [sic],” Mr. Gahlot tweeted. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Environment Minister Gopal Rai and Health Minister Satyendar Jain were earlier infected with the virus.
Meanwhile, a total of 68,422 beneficiaries took the COVID-19 vaccination in the city in the last 24 hours, as per the bulletin.
