Capital reports 2,187 new COVID-19 cases

New Delhi: Delhi on Thursday reported 2,187 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally here to 1,07,051. However, 82,226 patients of these have recovered from the contagious disease and only 4,784 of them are recuperating in hospitals, with an active case count of 21,567. The Capital also added 45 deaths to the toll, taking total fatalities from the virus here to 3,258.

The Delhi government said that 12,543 patients are recovering in home isolation. The official health bulletin showed that 22,289 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, of which 9,719 were RT-PCR tests and 12,570 were rapid antigen tests. The number of containment zones has, however, jumped to 563 now in a massive one-day spike.

But the Delhi Directorate General of Health Services also issued new testing and contact tracing plans for areas with isolated cases, high-risk individuals and special surveillance groups.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government-run GTB Hospital is aiming to increase its ICU bed-strength to 500 in the next two weeks. Currently, the hospital has 75 ICU beds. "Over the next two weeks, we are going to increase the number of ICU beds to 500," Vinay Bhushan, Nodal Officer of GTB Hospital said.

Furthermore, the hospital is also planning to increase the number of oxygen-supported beds to 60 per cent of the total bed capacity. "We have got an apheresis machine. All other arrangements have been made. If a patient needs plasma therapy, we will be able to provide it," Bhushan added.

On Tuesday, the hospital also started in-house testing for coronavirus through the RT-PCR methodology. Earlier, it would ask the patients to get themselves tested in other hospitals and laboratories. "To increase the pace of testing, another RT-PCR machine is being arranged," the official said. The hospital administration has also arranged 45 tablets with which patients can talk to their family members over video call.