Amit Shah calls for adding 300 ICU beds, doubling tests as Delhi cases rise

Home minister has also asks health ministry and Delhi govt to ensure proper supply of high flow nasal cannulas and bi-pap machines within 48 hours

Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asked the Delhi government to add up to 300 more ICU beds and double RT-PCR testing capacity as part of urgent steps to control the rising Civid-19 cases in the national capital.
 

Shah chaired a high-level meeting, which was attended by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, and senior officials.
 

The government plans to air-lift additional doctors and para-medical staff from the Central Armed Police Force to Delhi to address the shortage of manpower. 
 

The home minister has also asked the health ministry and the Delhi government to ensure adequate supply of high flow nasal cannulas and bi-pap machines within the next 48 hours in the city.

 

The government will also add another 200-250 ICU beds in the Covid facility of the Defence Research and Development Organisation and strengthen another 10,000-bed Covid facility in the capital by adding more oxygen beds. 
 

The health ministry will also issue the protocols for administering the plasma therapy and plasma management. Delhi recorded 3,235 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the infection tally to over 485,000 on Sunday, while 95 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 7,614.
 

Shah asked the Indian Council of Medical Research and the health and family welfare ministry to set up mobile testing vans for the high-risk individuals in the poorer section of the society. Some of the hospitals under the municipal corporations of Delhi will be converted into dedicated Covid hospitals.
 

Dedicated multi-department teams will visit all the private hospitals of Delhi to inspect the medical infrastructure, admission of patients and the availability of beds and whether that information is being provided accurately. The meeting was held to discuss the Covid situation in the national capital and ways to contain the spread of the virus aggravated during the festive season, winters, and air pollution.