200 ICU beds available in Delhi's Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital to treat COVID-19 patients, says Kejriwal
Jul 06, 2020
New Delhi [India], July 6 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that the number of ICU beds at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital has been increased from 45 to 200 to treat coronavirus patients
Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia paid a visit to Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in order to review COVID19 preparedness.
"Delhi government's Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital is playing an important role in the fight against COVID-19. The staff of this hospital is working day and night. Around 1,000 patients have been discharged from here after treatment. The capacity of ICU beds has been increased from 45 beds to 200 beds in limited time and resources. We have asked the hospital authorities to increase it to 500 in the coming times," he said.
Chief Minister said that there is no scarcity of beds in Delhi.
"There are around 15,500 beds of which 10000 beds are empty. There are 1900 ICU beds of which 750 are vacant. But in the coming days, these beds requirement will increase with the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases."
Earlier today, the Chief Minister said despite the trials for plasma therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 patients showing promise, there are more people requiring plasma than those coming forward to donate. He urged people who have recovered from COVID to donate plasma for the treatment of those in hospitals.
"We've also started the country's first corona plasma bank. There is no cure for the coronavirus until the vaccine is developed but our trials have shown that plasma therapy can help moderate patients condition improve significantly," said the Delhi Chief Minister.
"In the last four-five days, there has been an increased demand for plasma but a short supply of it meaning that the number of people who need plasma is more than those coming forward to donate it. If the number of donors does not increase, then the plasma supply will dwindle," Kejriwal added.
The national capital's COVID-19 cases are also nearing the 1-lakh mark with 99,444 coronavirus cases and 3,067 deaths, according to the Union Health ministry.
