Kejriwal reviews preparations on ground to ramp up bed strength; visits Surya Hotel

Taking stock of preparations on the ground to ramp up medical infrastructure, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Tuesday, visited Surya Hotel, which has temporarily been converted into a COVID-19 facility, to help the city deal with the surging COVID-19 cases.

This is the first visit of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the recent days as the national capital witnessed an alarming spurt in COVID-19 cases. Kejriwal was accompanied by his deputy Manish Sisodia.

An official said that Surya Hotel, located in New Friends Colony, has been attached with Holy Family Hospital and would offer 120 bed-facility in the next two to three days in the first phase, and thereafter, it would be extended up to 250 to 300 beds.

“An order had been issued to convert the hotel into COVID-19 facility on May 29, but it challenged the government’s order in a court which delivered its judgement in favour of the administration,” the official said.

He said that as part of its exercise to ramp up health infrastructure, the government has started the process to acquire around 78 banquet halls and 40 hotels and they have been attached with hospitals and nursing homes.

Delhi recorded 1,647 fresh cases on Monday, taking the tally in the city to 42,829, and the death toll due to the disease climbed to 1,400.

Two days ago, the government had directed district magistrates and other officials concerned to set up 20,000 beds within a week.

According to Delhi Corona app, out of 10,630 beds available in the city, 5,631 were occupied at 8.50 pm on Tuesday while 4,999 beds were vacant.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently had said that Delhi would need 1.5 lakh beds in healthcare facilities by July 31 once people start coming to the city for treatment from other states while asserting that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation would make an “honest effort” to provide medical treatment to all.

On Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had held meetings Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lt Governor Anil Baijal and three mayors to discuss the strategy to deal with the COVID-19 situation.

In the meeting, several key decisions, including large scale testing of COVID-19 in the city and house-to-house survey in containment zones for contact tracing, had been taken.

The Delhi government, on Tuesday, also issued an order attaching the Taj Mansingh Hotel to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and directed that its premises, including all its rooms, be used as a COVID-19 facility.

The move to attach it with the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), comes in pursuance of meeting a projected requirement of 1.5 lakh beds in healthcare facilities in Delhi by July-end, amid a massive surge in COVID-19 cases in the national capital.

aj Mansingh Hotel, a flagship brand of the Tata group, is located in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi.

The Delhi government has projected a massive requirement of beds in view of the growing cases in the national capital. The SGRH was earlier declared as a COVID-19 facility.

The order also said that the hospital would be responsible for proper disposal of biomedical waste generated at the hotel. All hotel staff will be provided with protective gear and basic training to handle COVID-19 patients, it said.

Ambulance for transfer of patients will be the hospital’s responsibility, while food, housekeeping service and disinfection of premises will be done by the hotel.

The charges for using the rooms would be collected by the hospital, which will then hand it over to the hotel, the order said.

If the need arose, the hospital can arrange for the stay of its doctors, nurses and paramedical staff at the hotel itself. The hotel and the hospital management can decide the rates mutually, the authorities said.

Authorities at the SGRH said that they have received the order. – PTI