NEW DELHI: The
Covid
situation in Delhi is rapidly deteriorating with 17,282 more people testing positive in the past 24 hours and 104 deaths being reported.
The positive cases came out of 1.08 lakh tests -- 73,915 RT-PCR and 34,619 rapid antigen – with the positivity rate recorded at 15.92%, the highest ever in the state. Earlier, on November 15, the city had recorded a positivity rate of 15.33%.
“There are no ICU beds available in most big hospitals, both public and private. There is no sign of the outbreak ebbing either,” said a senior doctor at AIIMS, adding that if cases continue to grow at this rate, the city’s health infrastructure may collapse.
Currently, Delhi has 50,736 active cases, of which 24,155 (50%) are under home isolation.
Faced with an unprecedented situation, the Delhi government on Wednesday converted around 15 hotels into ‘extended Covid hospitals’ by linking these to private hospitals. It capped the price at Rs. 5,000 per day for staying at the five-star hotels and Rs. 4,000 for four or three-star hotels. This will add nearly 3,000 beds with the provision of transferring patients to the linked hospital if their condition became severe during their stay.
The hotels include Crowne Plaza in Okhla Phase I and Shalimar Bagh, ITC Welcome in Dwarka, Radisson Blue in
Paschim Vihar
and Surya in New Friends Colony.
The government has also ordered conversion of several banquet halls, one school and
Yamuna Sports Complex
into temporary Covid hospitals. This would make over 1,100 Covid beds available in the city.