The chances of a third wave are real, we can’t say we are not prepared: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Saturday that the possibility of a third wave hitting Delhi was real and that preparations need to be made to ensure readiness.

He was speaking at an event to inaugurate 22 Pressure Swing Adsorption oxygen generation plants across 9 city hospitals.

“In the UK, we are seeing a third wave building despite 45% people being vaccinated there. The intensity of the cases, however, is lower, it is being said…The chances of a third wave are real, we can’t say we are not prepared,” said Kejriwal.

On Friday, over 8,000 cases were reported in the UK, the highest since February.

Delhi faced an extreme shortage of hospital beds as well as medical oxygen. According to government officials, the number of beds could not be increased even as cases and demand was growing because the government was unable to get adequate oxygen that would be needed to make the beds functional.

“This wave, which was the second in the country but fourth in Delhi, was very dangerous. The intensity of cases was also very high. We received help from a lot of quarters including corporate houses. For the next wave, we have to be ready. We already see cases rising in UK… We faced many issues in this wave, we don’t have oxygen plants but the demand suddenly went up. The usual demand in city hospitals is around 150 MT. this went up to 700 MT during Covid. We didn’t have tankers to transport oxygen,” he said.

Over the past few days, oxygen storage plants as well as oxygen generation plans have been set up in Delhi with help from corporate such as HCL and Maruti, Kejriwal said.