As many as 2,909 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Capital in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 62,655, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Monday.

Also, 58 more deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths to 2,233. Of the total cases, 36,602 people have recovered and there are 23,820 active cases.

There are a total of 13,183 hospital beds in the city of which 6,213 are occupied and 6,970 are vacant.

Over 14,682 more tests have been conducted in a day, as per the bulletin.

Rates ‘low’

The Delhi Medical Association (DMA) is working on a report on rates for COVID-19 beds in private hospitals, which will be submitted to the government, as the rates fixed by the government is “low”.

“The rates fixed by the government are low. They should have done a proper audit before fixing the prices. We are in the process of preparing a report on rates that can be fixed in private hospitals. We will submit the report in the next three to four days,” DMA president Girish Tyagi told The Hindu.

On Saturday, the government had fixed the per day rates of COVID-19 beds in private hospitals between ₹8,000 and ₹18,000.

Hiring students

The Delhi government’s decision to deploy final-year medical students in COVID-19 hospitals in the city for six months to increase the manpower will happen only after their final-year examination, according to sources.

“While the exams of students in GGSIPU [Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University] will start on June 25, the Delhi University is yet to declare the dates for the exam. We are planning to deploy them only after the exam,” an official source told The Hindu.