Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said that 1,14,288 COVID tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. He appealed to people to stay at home and move out only when needed. 4

The Minister reiterated that it was absolutely necessary to wear a mask when stepping out of the house, which would help fight COVID. He assured that the number of COVID beds are being constantly expanded.

Jain further said that the government had increased nearly 5,000 beds in the last week and 50% beds are available, with the numbers being further escalated. He added that around 2% of beds in Delhi Government’s COVID care centres are occupied while the rest are vacant.

Talking about the number of ventilators in hospitals, Jain said, ““There are only two types of beds — ICU beds and normal ward beds. A year ago, the issue of the number of ventilators was huge. Now, we have HFNO, Bi-Pap and high-flow oxygen, which are equally good as ventilators. We should know that not every patient requires a ventilator; only 2-3% need it. If a ventilator bed is occupied, it is counted as a patient being on a ventilator, but when it comes to the actual use of ventilators, the number of patients using them is very less. Take for instance, in Burari hospital, there are 30 patients on ventilator beds. However, no patient is using the ventilator. Similarly, in LNJP hospital, there are around 60-70 patients on ventilator beds, but only two or three are using ventilators.”

“We are consistently expanding the number of COVID beds. We have added nearly 5,000 beds in the last week and 50% beds are still available. The number of COVID beds are being further escalated.” he added.

In response to a question about the availability of beds in temporary COVID care centres, the Health Minister stated, “There are 5,525 beds in Delhi government’s COVID care centre, wherein 190 beds are occupied. This accounts for only 2% of the total beds while rest are still available.”

“We have requested the Centre to increase COVID beds in Central government hospitals. Currently, 1,090 COVID beds are available at Central Government hospitals, which was more than 4,000 in November 2020,” Jain said about the 18,000 COVID beds increment in November 2020.