As cases decline, Delhi's Covid helpline receives fewer calls on bed availability

New Delhi, May 25: Amid a steady decline in coronavirus cases in the national capital, the number of calls on the Delhi government''s dedicated COVID-19 helpline, 1031, enquiring about the availability of beds in hospitals has gone down from 405 on May 1 to 125 on May 23, according to official data.

On Monday, Delhi recorded 1,550 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest since March 27, and 207 more fatalities.

The positivity rate in the national capital stands at 2.52 per cent. On April 22, the city had recorded its highest positivity rate of 36.2 per cent.

The Delhi government had launched the dedicated COVID-19 helpline number 1031 to provide information to residents about the availability of beds in hospitals, oxygen cylinders and medicines etc.

According to government data, the helpline received a total of 1,615 calls on May 1 and as many as 405 callers sought information about the availability of beds in hospitals.

The next day, a total of 1,476 calls were received and 385 callers sought information about the availability of beds in hospitals, the data stated.

The helpline received a total of 1,606, 1,625, 1,989 calls on May 3, 4 and 5 respectively. On these days, the number of calls about bed availability stood at 415, 430 and 465 respectively, it showed.

On May 11, the helpline received 2,404 calls, the highest till May 23, and only 13.1 per cent of them pertained to bed availability. On May 12, the helpline handled 1,869 calls and 235 of them were regarding bed availability.

The number of calls fell to 1,471 on May 13 and 1,357 on May 14. It increased to 2,239 on May 15 but only 110 callers sought information about the availability of beds in hospitals, the data showed.

On May 16, the helpline received 2,223 calls and only 85 of them pertained to bed availability. A total of 2,027 calls were received on May 17 and 145 of them sought information on vacant beds in hospitals, it stated.

On May 23, the helpline handled a total of 1,185 calls, including 125 seeking information about bed availability, it stated.

Delhi has also seen a decline in the number of active COVID-19 cases from 83,809 on May 10 to 27,610 on May 22. The number of non-ICU patients in the city has also come down but that of patients in ICU has more or less remained unchanged, according to officials.