In a first, Delhi logs over 7,000 new coronavirus cases
Delhi is buried under a heavy coronavirus caseload and on Friday made a new record by crossing the 7,000-mark for the first time since the outbreak. Yesterday, 7,178 new cases were recorded; after reporting more than 6,000 cases daily for the last three days. On November 4, Delhi had recorded 6,842 new cases. With 64 deaths on Friday, the death toll has reached 6,833.
As per reports, Delhi conducted 58,860 tests yesterday. Of the total tests, 15,666 were done using the gold standard RT-PCR method and 43,194 were rapid antigen tests. The positivity rate came to be 12.19%. Worryingly, the national capital reported the most number of cases for any state on Friday, followed by Kerala that registered 7,002 fresh cases.
The spike spelled doom for the healthcare infrastructure as well. Not one ICU bed with a ventilator was available at Safdarjung, Deen Dayal Upadhaya, and Sardar Patel hospitals, as per the app of the Delhi government, reports IE. These three aforementioned hospitals are among the 14 government-run ones dedicated to coronavirus patients. At AIIMS Trauma Centre, only five of 50 beds were available.
The same situation was at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College. In the former, only two of the 28 ICU ventilator beds were available, and in the latter, nine of the 17. Dr. NN Mathur, the medical director, LHMC, said the situation is grim and there is a rise in hospitalization. He said the facility can add 25-30 more beds.
"The situation is quite grim at the moment — even the severity of the disease has gone up in some cases. Currently, we are running at maximum capacity but have an expansion plan, which has been submitted to the Centre," Dr. Mathur added.
In Delhi government-run hospitals as well, beds are filling fast. At Lok Nayak Hospital, which has 200 ICU ventilator beds, only 19 are vacant. Out of the 128 ICU ventilator beds in GTB Hospital, only 11 are available. Dr. Suresh Kumar, medical director, Lok Nayak Hospital, said 80-90 patients are getting admitted on a daily basis, and nearly 50% are being referred to ICU.
Dr. Rommel Tickoo, associate director, department of medicine at Saket's Max Hospital, said the outbreak is getting worse in Delhi. He said patients rush to hospitals when the situation deteriorates, hence, the ICU beds are filling up fast. "Our OPDs are flooded with suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19," he said, adding that he has been providing late-at-night video consultations from home as well.
Separately, Dr. JC Suri, director and head of pulmonology at Fortis Vasant Vihar, said an increased number of COVID-19 patients are complaining about cough, chest congestion, and breathlessness, reports TOI. This is driven by the rise in air pollution, Dr. Suri explained. This week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also admitted that Delhi is witnessing a spike in cases due to rising air pollution.
Further, adding to the woes, on Friday, Delhi's air quality remained in the "severe" category with the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) being recorded at 406. A day earlier, it stood at 450.
