MHA orders for upgrading 500 isolation beds with oxygen facility in Delhi

Ministry of Home Affairs has directed for the conversion of 500 isolation beds in COVID care center at Chhatarpur to beds with oxygen facility.The Ministry has also constituted 10 multi disciplinary teams to assess and report on the COVID care facilities in the national capital.

New Delhi: Ramping up Delhi's medical infrastructure due to Covid-19 surge, 500 isolation beds in COVID care center at Chhatarpur will be converted to beds with oxygen facility by the weekend, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Thursday.

MHA said that 75 doctors and 251 para-medics from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have reported for duty in the national capital. Fifty doctors and 175 para-medics are also deployed at Chhatarpur and Shakur Basti COVID care center.

A BSF official said that 23 doctors and 40 nursing staff from the force have joined DRDO's Sardar Vallabhai Patel COVID Hospital and are offering their yeoman service round the clock. Following Home Minister directives, about 150 ICU beds have been added in the last three days in Delhi and the current capacity of 3,652 ICU beds will be further ramped up, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, 10 multi-disciplinary teams were constituted by the Union Home Ministry to visit more than hundred private hospitals in Delhi for assessing bed utilization and testing capacity and to identify extra ICU beds. The reports submitted by the teams are being considered by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

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"After Home Minister's review meeting on Delhi's COVID situation, more than 28,708 RT-PCR tests were conducted on November 18. Capacity of RT-PCR tests to be ramped up to 60,000 per day by end of November," the MHA stated.

Amid the rising cases in and around the border states of Delhi, MHA has advised Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to conduct survey of private hospitals in their NCR districts on the lines of Delhi, the MHA added.

The developments have come in the wake of decisions taken during a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday.