Cases below 1,000 again in Delhi, plans to cut Covid beds

NEW DELHI:  The Delhi government has set up a four-member committee to make recommendations on reducing the number of hospital beds dedicated for the treatment of Covid-19 patients and re-initiation of non-Covid services, even as the city recorded 871 fresh cases on Wednesday — the third consecutive day when the daily rise in cases remained below the 1,000 mark.

According to the daily health bulletin, Delhi also registered 18 more fatalities in 24 hours. On Tuesday, 939 new instances of the viral infection were reported, while the previous day, the rise was 803, the lowest since August 17, when 787 cases were recorded. The active cases came down to 8,003.

With around 2,800 beds at hospitals being occupied by patients of coronavirus and 50 per cent of the ICU beds remaining available, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the positivity rate has been continuously declining and is the lowest in eight months. The case positivity rate slipped 0.99 per cent on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the AAP government had told the Delhi High Court that due to reports of a new variant of the coronavirus that originated in the United Kingdom, its order of reserving the beds will be reviewed on Wednesday. “Accordingly, a committee has been formed to submit its recommendations within two days, on the basis of which the government order dated September 12 will be reviewed,” the affidavit read.

Currently, out of 1,523 ICU beds with ventilators, 880 are vacant, which is more than 50 per cent, while 2,930 ICU beds without ventilators are available out of 3,577 beds. The affidavit was filed in a plea by the Association of Healthcare Providers which had challenged the order to reserve 80% ICU beds in 33 private hospitals for Covid-19 patients. Many hospitals made requests to restart non-Covid services as a daily load of corona cases have come down.