ICU beds, oxygen, Remdesivir decreasing sharply in Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi, Apr 17: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that the national capital is fast running out of beds, oxygen and the life-saving drug Remdesivir as it recorded an unprecedented 24,000 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.

"In the last 24 hours, there have been around 24,000 cases. A day before, there were around 19,000 cases. So the tally spiked only in a matter of 24 hours," Arvind Kejriwal said in a televised address.

"We don't know whether this is the peak of the pandemic in the Capital. The cases are rising. Every state has a threshold of medical facilities. Delhi too has its limit and we have reports of shortage of beds, oxygen, Remdesivir in the city," Kejriwal said.

"We will keep a close eye on the situation for some days. If the situation deteriorates, we will take whatever step is needed to save your lives," Kejriwal added.

"In a few days, we will be able to add around 6,000 oxygen beds. Around 1,300 beds are being arranged at Yamuna Sports Complex and Commonwealth Games, Rada Soami facility will get 2,500 beds now and 2,500 later. Around 2,100 oxygen beds have been pooled as hotels and banquets are being linked with hospitals," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal said the Centre, in November, had granted 4,100 beds for Covid, but now when the situation is more precarious, only 1,800 beds in central government hospitals have been allotted for Covid-19 treatment.

On Saturday, Kejriwal warned strict action against hospitals that are denying patients beds despite showing availability on the Delhi government''s COVID app.

He also demanded that the Centre reserve 50 per cent of the total pool of beds in hospitals run by it in Delhi for COVID-19 patients.

The district magistrates have been directed to keep a tab on the labs and ensure that no new samples are collected by them if they already have pending samples of COVID-19, the chief minister said.

Some labs have lifted more samples of COVID-19 suspects than their capacity leading to a delay of 3-4 days in getting test reports, Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal said he raised the issue of shortage of oxygen beds with the Union health minister, adding that in November last year, the central government allotted 4,100 beds at a peak of 8,500 cases in Delhi.

"This time, they have only provided 1,800 beds, even though this wave is three times more fatal than the previous ones," he said.

Kejriwal said in AIIMS, there are 11,062 beds in total. Out of these, only 23 beds have been reserved for coronavirus patients. In Safdarjung hospital, there are 2,900 beds, out of which only 204 have been reserved for COVID-19 patients.

"I requested him saying that if at least 50% of beds are reserved for Corona, an additional 3000-4000 beds could be made available for the patients. The ICU beds should also be provided."

"We have always been helped by the central government in the fight against Corona and I hope that this time too, the central government will support Delhi."