Cases rise past 4000 in Delhi, ICU beds running out fast

NEW DELHI:  With novel coronavirus cases surging in the city, hospital beds are quickly running out of availability. Delhi recorded 4,033 coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest daily count this year, as the positivity rate rose to 4.64 per cent, according to the health department. Adding to the worrisome positive cases figure is the fatality count in the past 24 hours with 21 patients losing their lives.

This is the highest since January 1, when an equal number of fatalities were reported. Over 50 per cent of the ICU beds with ventilators are currently occupied in the national capital. As per the Delhi corona app, 414 out of 790 such neds are already occupied. Lok Nayak Hospital, the largest facility under the Delhi government, which has 50 ICU beds with ventilators, has only four available currently. Max Saket which offers 20 such beds, has only one left for admission.

Other private facilities like Manipal Hospital, Holy Family, Fortis and Max at Shalimar Bagh are also out of availability. However, government facilities like RJSSH, AIIMS, Lady Hardinge, Safdarjung, RML, Baba Saheb Ambedkar and a few more have got beds available. In the case of ICU beds without ventilators, two major govfacilities-- Lok Nayak and RGSSH have got beds available.

However, many private hospitals are out of capacity such as Apollo Sarita Vihar, Fortis Okhla, Vasant Kunj and Shalimar Bagh, Max Shalimar Bagh, Sir Ganga Ram hospital, Venkateshwar Hospital Dwarka, National Heart Institute and Manipal hospital. According to officials from LNJP, the facility has witnessed an increase in admissions of Covid positive patients in the last three to four days with most being severe cases.

Booked Fined

Several restaurants, night clubs and hotels in Delhi have been fined and face cases for not maintaining social distancing and serving hookah, police officials said on Sunday following a two-day special drive to crack down on those violating Covid-19 safety guidelines. The drive, in which people were also fined for not wearing face masks and spitting in public areas, was conducted in places with high footfall, including markets, on Friday and Saturday.

Restaurants

• Jain Chawal Wala at Connaught Place
• Informal Restaurant at Janpath
• Classic Chicken Restaurant at SBS Marg
• Choice Chicken Corner Kalina at Gole Market
• Boken Cafe in East of Kailash
• Brijwasi, Al Nawaz, Al Jawahar, Zehra Al Noor and Al Bake in New Friends Colony

Night Clubs
M House Club and Bar and Roar Night Club at Eros Hotel in Nehru Place, fined for not maintaining social distancing and serving hookahs. Municipal corporations and the excise department have been asked to cancel their licences.

People
9 persons were fined Rs 2,000 each for not wearing masks in the Khan Market area and three others for
the same reason at the Ashoka Hotel in Chanakya Puri. In the South East district, 10 FIRs were registered and 330 people fined for not wearing face mask, not maintaining social distancing and spitting in public places, said police officials.