Delhi govt hospitals to be reserved for city residents, says Kejriwal

Some private hospitals will be reserved for Delhiites too, says chief minister.

As many as 10,000 beds at hospitals run by the Delhi government will be reserved for residents of the city, said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday as coronavirus cases steadily rise in the national capital 

Beds in some private hospitals will be reserved too, said Kejriwal as he announced that the city’s borders will be opened on Monday after being sealed for a week. Beds at hospitals run by the central government can treat people from across the country.

Kejriwal said a committee of doctors set up by his government had warned that Delhi might need 15,000 hospital beds by the end of June to treat coronavirus patients. 

"They have also said that beds in Delhi should be reserved for Delhiites; we have considered all this in our cabinet meeting," said Kejriwal.

The city will open malls, restaurants and religious places in accordance with the central government's guidelines, he said.

“One week ago we sealed Delhi's borders (with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh) because we wondered if Delhi’s hospitals can take the burden of patients coming from outside,” he said.

"Delhi's health infrastructure is needed to tackle the coronavirus crisis at the moment," news agency PTI quoted him as saying.

Delhi had 27,654 coronavirus cases and 761 deaths from the disease till Sunday, according to union health ministry data.