The Delhi government on Tuesday directed private hospitals and nursing homes with 50 beds or more to reserve at least 40 per cent of their total bed capacity for Covid patients, in the wake of an uptick in cases in the last few days due to the Omicron variant. The positivity rate has exponentially increased from 2.44 per cent on December 31, 2021, to more than eight per cent on Tuesday, the government said in an order.
It also said that the transmissibility of the variant is very high and the number of Omicron positive cases in the community are rising exponentially. Delhi reported 5,481 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest since May 16, with a positivity rate of 8.37 per cent, and three more fatalities due to the viral disease, according to health department data. The national capital had recorded 6,456 cases and 262 fatalities on May 16 last year when the positivity rate was 10.4 per cent. Tuesday's positivity rate is the highest since May 17, when it stood at 8.42 per cent, according to the data.
"Therefore, the keepers of all private hospitals/nursing homes having total bed capacity of 50 beds or more are directed to reserve at least 40 per cent of their total bed capacity (i.e. 40 per cent of ward bed capacity and 40 per cent of lCU bed capacity) for Covid patients," read the order. It was issued by the Nursing Home Cell of the Delhi Directorate General of Health Services. According to Union health ministry data updated at 8 am, Delhi has recorded 382 Omicron cases.
On June 28 last year, the government had allowed private hospitals and nursing homes with total capacity of 100 beds or more to reduce their reserve capacity for Covid oxygenated beds to 30 per cent of their total capacity. An order issued then had also given private hospitals and nursing homes having total bed capacity less than 100 beds an option regarding reserving beds for Covid patients. Later, due to an increase cases of vector-borne diseases like dengue, malaria and chikungunya) in Delhi, private hospitals with 100 bed capacity or more were allowed to reduce their reserve capacity for Covid oxygenated beds from 30 per cent to 10 per cent.
The order for this was issued on October 18 last year. According to official data released on Tuesday, 531 COVID-19 patients are admitted in various hospitals here, including 41 who are suspected to have contracted the disease. Fourteen patients are on ventilator support, while 168 patients with moderate symptoms are on oxygen support. A total of 308 patients are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and are without oxygen support, it stated. On May 16 last year, 16,249 patients were in hospitals. Delhi was in the middle of a lockdown with several restrictions.
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