500 oxygen beds at ITBP facility to start from today, no walk-ins

New Delhi: As the Capital's new Covid-19 cases came down seemingly on Sunday evening, with 350 more deaths from the virus and a little over 22,900 new infections reported, the case positivity rate in the city has now stabilised around 30 per cent for the time being.

But active cases in the city are increasing rapidly and have now reached 94,592 with hospital beds having almost run out in the city. Now, the Delhi government has said that it has had to put on hold bed augmentation given the impending doom of the oxygen shortage in the city's hospitals.

However, after much ado, the Ministry of Home Affairs had finally operationalised the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) last week to restart the 10,000 bedded Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre and Hospital, with the centre reopening for patients starting today (Monday 10 am)

According to officials, the facility, inside the campus of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas in South Delhi's Chattarpur area will start with 500 oxygenated beds and then go on to ramp up capacity as and when required.

Significantly, officials have said that no walk-in admissions will be allowed at the centre and that patients will need to be brought through the proper channels that can evaluate the patient's health conditions.

ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said admission to the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel COVID care centre (SPCCC) will be made on reference by the district surveillance officers (DSOs) of respective Delhi districts.

"All medical treatment, medicines, food and other facilities will be provided free of cost," Pandey said.

Meanwhile, ITBP Director General S S Deswal on Sunday visited the site to take stock of preparations.

As of 11:59 pm on Sunday, there were just 1,538 vacant ward beds and 13 ICU beds available for Covid-19 patients in all of Delhi. But the oxygen shortage has forced hospitals to deny admission to many patients or keep them waiting outside emergency wards — where in most cases, they breathe their last, waiting for oxygen.

Meanwhile, a total of 69,677 vaccine doses were administered to people in the said period and the beneficiaries included 47,960 who took the first dose.