Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that there had been an unprecedented spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital after the lifting of lockdown but added that Delhi would be able to defeat the disease with “five weapons”.
“In the last week of May, after the lockdown was lifted, Corona spread at a higher rate than expected in Delhi. By the first week of June, a shortage of beds and testing was apparent and the shortage of hospital beds also led to an increase in the number of deaths. We had two options then, either to impose lockdown again or to fight off corona,” Kejriwal said. “We asked the people and the decision to fight it was taken. We have five weapons to fight against the disease – increasing the number of beds, testing, providing oximeter and oxygen concentrators to people who are getting treated at home. Plasma therapy, which turned out to be successful and from today serological survey is also starting,” he added.
The Delhi CM said that in the last one week, the number of beds has increased significantly and at present, there are 13,500 beds of which 6,500 are occupied in the national capital.
He also said that upwards of 20,000 tests are being conducted daily and thanked the Centre for providing testing kits.
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Kejriwal said that reserving 40 per cent beds in all hospitals for COVID-19 patients, and attaching hotels to big hospitals has played a big part in increasing the number of beds available for patients.
As of Thursday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Delhi stood at 77,240 according to the Union Health Ministry. This includes 27,657 active cases and 47,091 cured and discharged patients. The number of deaths reported due to the disease has reached 2,492 in the national capital.