India's largest Covid facility in Delhi to be revived as cases spike

The country's largest Covid-19 facility is at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in South Delhi

The country's largest COVID-19 facility at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in South Delhi, which was closed down in February, is being revived considering the unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, officials said on Saturday.

The management at the spiritual organisation's centre in Chattarpur confirmed that the facility will be restarted soon.

"The government is planning to restart the facility soon. Officials are likely to conduct a survey on Saturday evening and finalise the modalities," Vikas Sethi, the secretary of the Radha Soami Satsang Beascentre, told PTI.

Asked if the Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre is being revived, South Delhi District Magistrate Ankita Chakravorti replied in the affirmative.

The 10,200-bed facility was inaugurated on July 5 last year and was operated by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

The centre was 1,700 feet long and 700 feet wide -- roughly the size of 20 football fields -- and had200 enclosures with 50 beds each.

The Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre was closed in February when coronavirus cases in the capital had reduced significantly.The facility had admitted patients referred by 11 hospitals in the city, including AIIMS and Safdarjung.

On Friday, Delhi recorded its highest-ever one-day COVID-19 figures when 19,486 cases and 141 deaths were reported, prompting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to order setting up more coronavirus facilities and increase the strength of oxygen beds.

On Thursday and Friday, the city had recorded 16,699 and 17,282 cases, respectively.

Kejriwal appointed his deputy Manish Sisodia the 'nodal minister' for overall COVID-19 management in the city and assigned him the responsibility of inter-ministerial coordination.

With the unprecedented rise in coronavirus cases, the AAP government also appointed 10 IAS officers as "nodal officers" for COVID-19 hospitals run by it and asked them to work from the health care facility they have been assigned.

The government had on Thursday announced a curfew this weekend and the closure of malls, gymnasiums and auditoriums till April 30 as part of sweeping restrictions to break the chain of the infection.