Railways providing coaches with 800 beds to Delhi for COVID-19 treatment; paramilitary doctors start arriving: MHA

NEW DELHI: Amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the national capital, the Union home ministry said on Wednesday that the Indian Railway is in the process of making available train coaches with 800 beds for Covid-19 patients at Shakur Basti, to be used as a Covid care-cum-isolation facility.
Besides, 45 doctors and 160 paramedics of the paramilitary forces arrived in Delhi for deployment in Covid-19 duties. They were flown in from various locations across India.

The Centre has provided additional 250 intensive care unit (ICU) beds from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to the existing 250 ICU beds. It will also create 35 Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BIPAP) beds in the next three-four days at its Covid-19 hospital near the Delhi airport.

The decision comes in the wake of the 12-point directions issued by Union home minister Amit Shah on November 15. Shah had held a review meeting with health minister Harsh Vardhan, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant governor Anil Baijal.

Delhi has witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases since October 28, when the daily rise breached the 5,000-mark for the first time and it crossed the 8,000-mark on November 11.

“Forty-five doctors and 160 para-medics from paramilitary forces have arrived in Delhi for deployment at DRDO hospital near Delhi airport and at a Covid care centre at Chhatarpur… Remaining doctors and medics will reach Delhi in the next few days,” the home ministry said in a tweet.

The ministry has also constituted 10 multi-disciplinary teams to visit more than 100 private hospitals in Delhi for assessing bed utilisation and testing capacity and to identify extra ICU beds. Visits by the teams are underway, said the ministry.

“The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Delhi government are working together to enhance RT-PCR testing capacity to 60,000 tests by the end of November,” said an official. Testing capacity has been enhanced by 10,000 tests per day since Tuesday, according to the home ministry.

The planning for house-to-house survey in Delhi is at an advanced stage. The survey is expected to begin by the end of the week and completed by November 25, said the ministry. “Electronics Limited (BEL) has dispatched 250 ventilators from Bengaluru and they are expected to reach Delhi by the end of the week. The Union health ministry has delivered 35 BIPAP machines to DRDO Covid facility near the Delhi airport,” it said.

To bring testing closer to Delhi residents, the ICMR will help the Delhi government in deploying 10 mobile testing laboratories with a total capacity of 20,000 tests in a phased manner from next week, said the ministry.