As the number of active virus cases dip below the 1,000 mark, the Delhi government has started to de-escalate the number of COVID-19 beds at private hospitals and at COVID Care Centres across the Capital.
Facilities at the Yamuna Sports Complex and Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre at Chhatarpur, that came up in April to tackle the second wave, have been reduced to 50 and 200 beds respectively. Four COVID Care Centres have also been closed.
The Delhi government said that with the cases declining, there are a large number of vacant beds that are required by patients suffering from non-COVID-19 ailments. Those private hospitals that were asked to reserve 80% of their bed capacity for COVID-19 patients have now been asked to reserve 30% of their total bed capacity.
However, it added that in case there is a rise in the number of COVID cases, the number of beds shall be immediately augmented. “Present available beds are sufficient to handle the active cases and COVID Care Centres can be started very soon if there is a requirement,” a government spokesperson said.
The health bulletin released on Wednesday showed that out of 14,478 hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients, 13,989 were vacant and of the 3,871 beds available at COVID care centres, 10 were occupied.
More cautious approach
After the previous wave in November 2020, most of the temporary facilities set up to augment the number of beds to deal with the surge of COVID-19 cases were dismantled. This time, however, authorities are taking a more cautious approach as the threat of a third wave looms.
A source in the defence services said that hospitals set up during the second wave will not be dismantled and will be continued for sometime.
“We will hand over the hospitals set up by the DRDO to local authorities for keeping it safe without operation if the hospital is not required but we will not be dismantling them,” said a defence source about the DRDO set-up hospital.
Several health professionals warn against completely dismantling augmented facilities and felt that the COVID Care Centres by the Delhi government should remain functional for a longer time as the infection spreads through periodic waves.
H.K. Mahajan, chief of anaesthesia, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre said that there was a need to wait for some more time before dismantling facilities.
“There was a shortage of beds, oxygen and medicines during the second wave. It is the right time to review the past mistakes and prepare for the future. There is a need of plenty of medicines, oxygen and beds so that the country can deal with a possible third wave successfully,” Mr. Mahanjan said.
Invest in infrastructure
Siddharth Rastogi, executive director, MVS Engineering Pvt. Ltd. that provides on-site oxygen generators says that the government was caught off guard in the second wave due to the rapid spread and inadequate infrastructure.
“It will be advisable to mothball the infrastructure rather than dismantle it. Now, that the second wave seems to be ebbing, we are seeing many hospitals once again putting their decision to instal an on-site generation system for oxygen on the backburner as their delivered oxygen supplies have normalised. However, hospitals should not let their guard down and continue with their plans on investing in the infrastructure for oxygen independence immediately,” Mr. Rastogi said.
He added that the ongoing closing of COVID centres in Delhi and elsewhere must not be pursued in the immediate term because the virus has still not gone away. The spectre of the third and a potentially more damaging wave still hovers over us. And so, preparing for the worst, hospitals must go ahead full throttle with their plans of installation of on-site oxygen generation plants.
‘Still not serious’
A.K. Jhingan, diabetologist, Delhi Diabetes Research Centre, says that the second wave may be over, however, by September-end, the third wave may hit the Capital and will be potentially as severe as the second wave according to the modelling study by the team of scientists.
“The attitude of the government is still not serious. We have witnessed chaos and very high mortality during the second wave as we were not prepared to handle it. The lessons should not be forgotten and we should be well prepared to handle such a situation if it arises,” Dr. Jhingan said.
