Delhi govt sets up panel for overall preparedness of hospitals to battle COVID-19

A five-member committee has been constituted by the Delhi government to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure and look into overall preparedness of hospitals to battle COVID-19, officials said. The order to set up the panel was issued on Tuesday, the day Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,298 coronavirus cases.

The members of the panel are Dr Mahesh Verma, the vice-chancellor of IP University; Dr Sunil Kumar, the medical director of GTB Hospital; Dr Arun Gupta, president of Delhi Medical Council; Dr R K Gupta, former president of Delhi Medical Association; and Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, the group medical director of Max Hospital, the order said. The committee will guide the Delhi government on healthcare infrastructure augmentation and overall preparedness of hospitals to battle COVID-19, it said.

It will also guide the government on any other area where strengthening of infrastructure is required to better manage the pandemic in Delhi. The panel has been directed to submit its report by June 6, the order said.

A record single-day spike of 1,298 fresh cases took the COVID-19 tally in Delhi to over 22,000 on Tuesday and the death toll due to the disease mounted to 556, authorities said. Experts had earlier warned that with lockdown easing coming up, coronavirus cases in India, including in the national capital, could "suddenly surge".

Noted lung surgeon Dr Arvind Kumar cautioned that given the COVID-19 situation right now, "India is heading towards a very chaotic situation from here on". Kumar warned that by the end of June, "India is going to see a massive surge in the number of cases".

"We have not yet reached a stage where our health infrastructure has got overwhelmed, but if the cases surge, we may have to be prepared to face the tough situation," he said. Mortuaries at many hospitals are reported to have been filled with dead bodies. Civic authorities have said that a large number of bodies of COVID-19 positive or suspected patients are being brought to cremation sites and graveyards.

Keeping in view the rising coronavirus cases in Delhi, the three civic bodies recently had doubled their capacity to dispose of bodies of COVID-19 victims. Thousands of asymptomatic patients have been told to home quarantine themselves as per the guidelines.

The Delhi government on Friday had even released a video explaining the process of home isolation and the precautions a patient, caregivers and neighbours need to take. Total number of COVID-19 positive patients under home isolation stands at 7,461 as on Tuesday, the authorities said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)