With cases under control, Delhi shuts 11 Covid Care Centres
New Delhi, September 23
With coronavirus cases keeping low in Delhi for the past several weeks, 11 Covid Care Centres (CCC) have been wound down while two centres still operating get a small number of visitors, officials said on Friday.
In a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting on Thursday to review the COVID situation in the city, the authorities also discussed the continuation of Delhi Epidemic Act beyond September 30.
The meeting chaired by Lt Governor VK Saxena with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in attendance decided scaling down medical personnel and infrastructure deployed for the COVID management in a calibrated manner as per an action plan to be prepared by Health Department, the officials said.
In a presentation during the meeting, officials informed that two CCCs are functional: one at the Ambedkar Nagar Hospital with 50 beds and the other at the Balak Ram Hospital with 25 beds.
The Ambedkar Nagar hospital had 4-5 admissions during the past three months while there was no admission at the Balak Ram Hospital during the period, the officials said.
Seven CCCs were closed and dismantled by the Delhi government and one by the Centre. Three others with a total bed capacity of 4,000 — Radha Saomi Satsang ,Chattarpur; Sawan Kirpal, Burari; and Sant Nirankari, Burari—were closed but not yet dismantled, the officials said.
The Delhi government hospitals were allowed to engage additional manpower with the rise in COVID cases in 2020.
Subsequently, COVID-19 hospitals were allowed to engage up to 25 percent additional doctors and 40 percent additional nurses and paramedics above the sanctioned strength.
This additional manpower was last extended up to June 30, 2022 for COVID as well as non-COVID hospitals.
The DDMA was asked to allow extension of hiring manpower on contractual basis against vacant posts only in COVID hospitals, till March 2023, added the officials.
Delhi on Thursday recorded 77 fresh Covid cases with a positivity rate of 0.74 per cent, according to data shared by the health department.
The number of active Covid cases in Delhi stands at 431, the bulletin said.
A total of 327 patients are under home isolation, the bulletin said, adding that of the 9,266 beds reserved for Covid patients in various city hospitals, 42 are occupied.
There are 63 Covid containment zones in Delhi.
The number of daily Covid cases in Delhi touched a record high of 28,867 on January 13, during the third wave of the pandemic. The city recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the third wave.
