'Patients with mild symptoms can only be kept in hotels linked to Delhi hospitals
Apr 15, 2021
New Delhi [India], April 15 : The Delhi government's decision to link hotels to hospitals to convert them into extended COVID hospitals can be of use only for patients with mild symptoms as patients who need monitoring and oxygen cannot be in hotels, a senior doctor at a private hospital said here on Thursday.
Dr Sumit Ray, Medical Superintendent, and Head of Department (critical care medicine), Holy Family Hospital, said the government order has to be followed but "it will not lead to improvement in patient care".
A patient who needs a hospital is the one who needs oxygen, he said, adding that co-morbidities can accentuate the situation.
"Keeping them in the hospital to monitor is necessary. Nurses, doctors, monitoring facility, availability of oxygen, all this is there in a hospital. By being linked to hospitals, hotels will not become hospitals," he said.
A hotel has also been linked to Holy family Hospital due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the national capital.
The Delhi government on Wednesday decided to attach hotels and banquet halls with private hospitals to increase the availability of COVID-19 beds.
The hospitals are required to admit COVID-19 patients in the hotels and banquet halls on the basis of their condition, and if a patient's health worsens, he is required to be shifted to the main hospital immediately.
"We can keep only patients who are mild symptoms in hotels," he said.
He said such patients can be quarantined at home as well.
"The patients quarantined at home should have facilities to monitor parameters such as oxygen levels. The government should have a centralized system to track the patients in the home quarantine," he added.
Delhi reports 16,699 new COVID-19 cases, 112 deaths and 13,014 recoveries in the last 24 hours.
