Delhi Government Withdraws Its Order On Converting Nursing Homes Into COVID-19 Facilities
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has withdrawn its order asking all nursing homes with a minimum capacity of 10 beds and up to 49 beds to start treating COVID-19 patients.
The order was withdrawn on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the original order was issued to medical superintendents of all nursing homes.
¡°The competent authority has directed that order¡ by medical superintendent nursing homes to keepers of all nursing homes¡ having bed strength between 10 beds to 49 beds declaring them as COVID nursing homes has been withdrawn with immediate effect¡¡± says Delhi government¡¯s revised order issued on Sunday.
The development came after nursing homes opposed the move citing, lack of infrastructure and trained staff to deal with COVID-19 patients.
They also argued that small nursing homes and hospitals are the lifelines of many neighborhoods and converting them into COVID-19 facilities will effectively deny necessary treatment for non-COVID-19 patients.
On Saturday, the Delhi Government which is scrambling to get the maximum number of beds and ICUs ready before July had asked all nursing homes with capacity of 10-49 beds except standalone centres such as eye care centres, ENT centres, dialysis centres, maternity homes and IVF centres, to convert into COVID facilities.
It had also asked 117 nursing homes and private hospitals with bed capacity of 50 beds or more to reserve/earmark at least 20 per cent of their total bed for COVID-19 patients.
Delhi which recorded 2224 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday has 41128 confirmed cases so far, out of which 24032 are active.
As of now, Delhi has a total of 9,647 dedicated COVID-19 beds in state-run, central and private hospitals, of these, 5,402 are occupied.?
According to the Delhi government's estimates,?COVID-19 cases in the national capital are likely to breach the five lakh-mark?by the end of July. Around one lakh beds will be needed for patients.?
With this in mind, the?Arvind Kejriwal government?is planning a 10,000-bed makeshift hospital for COVID-19 patients under a sprawling tent in the campus of spiritual organisation Radha Soami Satsang Beas on the Delhi-Haryana border.
This COVID-19 facility, which will be 1,700 feet long and 700 feet wide, will have 200 enclosures with 50 beds each, said Vikas Sethi, secretary of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Bhati Mines.
The makeshift hospital will be the largest such facility in the city so far. The work is expected to be completed by the end of June.
The Central Government has also promised to immediately give 500 railway coaches to Delhi which will increase the number of beds by 8000 in the national capital.
