9,500 hospital beds soon, mobile app for Covid-19 help, claims Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Delhi government will have 9,500 beds reserved for Covid-19 patients by June 5. With over a thousand new cases reported every day for the past few days, and the total crossing 18,500 on Saturday, there is a need to expand the setup required to deal with the coronavirus. But Delhi is four steps ahead of the deadly virus, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed at a press conference on Saturday, and the government will launch a mobile app on Monday that will provide Delhiites information on beds and ventilators in the city’s Covid hospitals.
“The surge in corona cases in Delhi in the last few days is a matter of worry, but there is no need to panic. I want to assure you that we are making arrangements way more than required to deal with Covid-19. We have to learn to live with the coronavirus,” Kejriwal said.

He said that out of the 17,386 active cases (till Friday), only 2,100 patients were in the hospitals for treatment, the rest in home isolation. “We currently have 6,600 beds for Covid-19 cases, having successfully arranged 2,100 beds in one week,” he added. “Only 2,100 beds are occupied, while 4,500 remain vacant. We have now issued orders to have 9,500 beds by June 5.”
The CM said many people want to be treated in private hospitals, but Delhi government hospitals, like the government schools, provided quality facilities. The state government has also taken over some hotels for Covid care.
“On May 14, there were 1,600 patients in the hospitals in Delhi. Now, there are 2,100,” Kejriwal said. “Despite the increase in the overall active cases, the number of hospitalised patients has only increased by 500.” He added that most infected people were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms like cough cold, and fever. “They can be treated at home. There is no need to panic because most of Delhi’s people are recovering at homes,” the CM noted.
Delhi government will launch a mobile application on Covid care on Monday. Explaining why, Kerjiwal said, “Though we have adequate health infrastructure, families of Covid-19 positive persons are still confused about where to take them for treatment. They are not sure about availability of beds and ventilators in the hospitals. To eliminate such confusion, we will launch an app on Monday that will have information on the status of beds and ventilators available in each hospital in Delhi. People who do not use smartphones can access this information on a website, besides the information being available on the 1031 helpline.”
The CM also refuted the video of bodies being circulated since Saturday morning as being from a Delhi government hospital. “Another video of low-quality food being served in a hospital was also circulated saying it was a Delhi government hospital. These are not true,” Kejriwal emphasised, while appealing to people not to share such fake content on social media because it took a toll on the morale and confidence of doctors and corona warriors.