Arvind Kejriwal today said that there is a shortage of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said that there is a shortage of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds that are essential if the coronavirus cases rise in Delhi.
However, the Delhi Chief Minister said that there were enough hospital beds available to treat patients in the national capital.
"For now, there is no scarcity of hospital beds, we have over 15,000 beds out of which 5,300 are occupied. There is a paucity of ICU beds. If there is any spike in COVID cases, these ICU beds are very critical for us," the Chief Minister said at the inauguration event of DRDO-built Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy also attended the event.
The newly inaugurated hospital in Delhi's cantonment area is a temporary hospital structure that has been erected in 11 days and has 1,000 beds including 250 ICU beds.
Mr Kejriwal said that the hospital was need of the hour as many patients were under home isolation
"This 1,000-bed facility was very much needed at this time. So, many people are being treated under home isolation in Delhi currently, if a person goes in a serious condition and starts searching for a hospital, so the hospital beds are needed at this time, this 1,000-bed hospital will be helpful in such a situation," Mr Kejriwal was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The Chief Minister further said that situation was brought under control in Delhi with only 25,000 active cases still undergoing treatment.
Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also visited the hospital.
Delhi has a total of 97,200 COVID-19 cases, including 68,256 recoveries and 25,940 active cases, as per the last bulletin of the Delhi Health Department.