Delhi Must Be Prepared To Handle Around 45,000 Daily COVID Cases In Third Wave, Warns IIT-Delhi

IIT-Delhi has warned the Delhi government that the capital should be ready to handle close to 45,000 daily COVID cases with 9,000 patients needing hospitalisation in the "worst-case scenario" of the third-wave hitting Delhi.

A report filed in the Delhi High Court said Delhi would need 944 metric tonnes of oxygen daily to be shared between hospitals and refillers.

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A joint team consisting of experts from IIT-Delhi and officials from the city government analysed issues, which were coming in the way of management of oxygen infrastructure within the national capital, and came up with practical solutions to resolve them to strengthen the fight against COVID.

¡°The joint team submitted its report to the Delhi High Court yesterday. Our objective was to make sure that we provide specific and practically implementable solutions to the Delhi government. Our endeavour is to make sure that no lives are lost due to oxygen-related infrastructure issues in the state,¡± said Sanjay Dhir, professor at the department of Management Studies in IIT-Delhi.

Dhir said that the objectives of the collaboration include improving the current IT portal and dashboard created for oxygen management by the Delhi government and integrating technological solutions to improve the same.

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This is besides the planning to augment and create medical oxygen storage, production and distribution in Delhi, he said.

Ankur Garg, Delhi Commissioner (Trade and Taxation), said, ¡°Delhi government is already preparing for the third wave of COVID-19 and the collaboration with IIT-Delhi will further add value to the strategic planning process¡±.