On Sunday, 3,256 cases were recorded and over 36,000 people were tested.

As Covid cases rise in the city, the Delhi government is making preparations to ensure there are enough beds for patients. Hotels, however, are not expected to be roped in this time. Banquet halls too will not be asked to handover facilities for now.

“Only if the number of cases rises suddenly will banquet halls be requisitioned. The last time, making arrangements took some time as such an exercise was carried out for the first time. This time, we are more prepared. Initially, we don’t believe there is a need to requisition these facilities. If they are needed at a later stage, we will be ready,” said a senior government official.

Hotels, officials said, will not be requisitioned as experience shows occupancy remained low. “When cases rose suddenly earlier, we requisitioned five- and four-star hotels but experience showed that very few patients were shifted here. In the first week of June, the rush for beds we saw was primarily for a week; even in that case, it was ventilators and ICUs that were running short. This time, as cases rise, we have a higher number of beds, ventilators and ICUs as compared to last time; oxygen is available in most beds. We don’t think we will need to requisition hotel rooms,” the official said.

When they were first requisitioned, two hotels had gone to court which ruled in the government’s favour, and hotels were attached to hospitals. However, only a handful of patients took admission in the 40 hospitals that were attached to hotels and later, they were unlinked.

A senior official also said since hotels had been allowed to function, the government did not want to stall their business unless absolutely necessary: “A lot of facilities were created in the last two months and we don’t think we will need to ask businesses to stop functioning. This is a disease we need to learn to live with and control deaths as much as possible.”

Over the last few weeks, number of beds occupied has gone from 3,600 to 5,185. The highest number of hospitalisations previously was around 6,300 in the last week of June. The number of ventilators in hospitals has also gone up since June.

Officials said cases increased suddenly as more tests are being conducted now. On Sunday, 3,256 cases were recorded and over 36,000 people were tested. Delhi was testing around 18,000 people per day till two weeks ago.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said on Saturday that the situation in Delhi was under control and there were enough beds in hospitals. He also said the number of people from outside Delhi who have taken admission in city hospitals has risen after lockdown was eased.