Last month, addressing the media via video conferencing from his residence, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had assured the residents that city’s hospitals were well equipped to fight the deadly coronavirus as the lockdown had given authorities enough time to prepare. “Delhi will win, corona will lose,” he had said.
Less than a month after the chief minister’s statement, his deputy, Manish Sisodia, sounded an alert — Delhi will have 5,50,000 Covid-19 cases by the end of July and will require 1,50,000 beds by then. The numbers are enough to create panic among Delhiites.
Next came some tough words from the Supreme Court over handling of the coronavirus cases by the AAP government. Following the top court’s criticism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on June 14 assured that the Centre would provide 500 railway coaches to be converted into Covid-19 care centres for the city. The residents heaved a sigh of relief.
But four days later, Sisodia inspected 50 isolation coaches stationed at Shakur Basti station and raised concern over relatively high temperatures inside the coaches, saying this would make it problematic for the medical staff to work while wearing heavy PPE kits.
This was one of the shortcomings on the ground the Kejriwal government has faced in recent times, besides logistical challenges. The rapidly rising coronavirus cases have posed a serious logistical challenge for the government — arranging hospital beds for residents and those who come from outside for treatment.
It has now started to expand healthcare facilities at stadiums, banquet halls and other spaces suitable for setting up beds. Besides, it has temporarily hired several hotels and is turning them into treatment and isolation facilities. More than 40 hotels in the city with banquet halls have been identified by the government to be attached to hospitals to meet the shortage of manpower and infrastructure issues.
Challenging the order, Luxurious Eros Grand Resorts and Hotels Pvt Ltd then moved the Delhi High Court, which, however, has refused to stay the AAP government’s decision, saying there has been an extraordinary rise in coronavirus cases and drastic measures required to control the situation.
Does the city have enough beds?
According to the latest health bulletin of the Delhi government published on Sunday, there are a total of 12,651 Covid-19 beds at city hospitals, of which 6,597 beds were available.
At the dedicated Covid health centres, there are a total of 5,909 beds available, of which 4,883 were still vacant. Also, there is a cumulative capacity of 344 beds at the dedicated care centres, of which 139 were vacant.
Besides, the central government has deployed 500 train coaches in the city that have a capacity for 8,000 beds. The remodelled railway coaches will function as Covid Care Centres for patients with mild or very mild symptoms of the infection. The AAP government is also preparing to convert Radha Soami Satsang Beas centre in south Delhi into a health facility where 10,000 beds will be added.
Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had recently visited the centre, which will be turned into a mega-hospital extended facility, dividing it into different sections for better use of the space.
Going by the projection of the AAP government, which has predicted that the city may witness one lakh cases and require 15,000 beds by June 30, Delhi seems to be well-prepared with beds.
However, Kejriwal has already warned that by July 15, the national capital would need 33,000 beds, and including those from outside the city, it would require 65,000. “By July 31, 80,000 beds were projected for the people of Delhi. But now, we will need a total of 1,50,000 beds.” These figures are perturbing as the city falls short of that requirement.
Lack of workforce
Amid the shortage of funds and healthcare workers, Kejriwal and Baijal have appealed to NGOs and civil society organisations to join the Delhi government’s efforts in combating the pandemic. Chief Secretary Vijay Dev issued orders to this effect stating that the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) was inviting volunteers and NGOs to boost the administration’s fight against Covid-19.
“After the migrant exodus, the Delhi government is trying to grapple with the spiralling coronavirus cases. The intention of the government seems to be right, but the tussle between the L-G and the chief Minister is weakening the fight against the outbreak every day,” Lipla Negi, a resident of Lajpat Nagar.
Despite the Centre’s assurance of full support to the Delhi government, officials have already pointed out the shortage of workforce to handle the patients’ load at government hospitals.
To fix the problem, the government has decided to immediately deploy all final-year MD/MS/ DNB graduate doctors at various PG medical institutions in the city. These students will be engaged for six months in government Covid-19-dedicated hospitals.
“The Delhi government has been doing good work, but the face-off with the Centre should be kept aside right now when the entire world is battling with the common enemy. The government should also make the process smoother for the people who are from the economically backward section to get beds and treatment,” said Rashi Jaipuria, a resident of Model Town.
Capping hospital rates
On Friday, the Union home ministry ordered capping charges for beds, ICU and ventilators at private hospitals to make medical care for Covid-19 patients a little more affordable. Acting on the advice of a high-powered committee, under the chairmanship of V K Paul, a member of the NITI Aayog, the ministry has capped the cost of a Covid-19 isolation bed at private hospitals in the range of Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 and an ICU bed with a ventilator at Rs 15,000-Rs 18,000 per day. On Wednesday, the charges for RT-PCR tests were capped at Rs 2400.
“The Delhi government is trying its best to tackle the situation, but the spike in the cases is quite overwhelming and would require a more proactive approach from the authorities,” said Soumita Mazumder a JNU research scholar, resident of Vasundhara Enclave. For better implementation of the directives, the government has formed a unified command centre in the city where each district magistrate will be the head.
The heads of all Delhi government hospitals, Deputy Commissioners of the three civic bodies, and the DCPs who are in charge of police districts, will now work under the command of district magistrates to effectively deal with the Covid-19 situation. “All the departments are working in coordination, and there are responsible officers who are working tirelessly to monitor the situation. Even before the order of the unified command centre was made, we were working as a team. The Rapid Antigen Testing is going smoothly in Northeast Delhi,” said Shashi Kaushal, the northeast Delhi DM.