NEW DELHI: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), tasked to run a newly created Covid care centre in south Delhi, has said that the capacity to admit coronavirus patients at the facility is “limited” due to supply of oxygen. Less than half of the total 500 oxygen beds at Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre (SPCCC) located in the Radha Soami Beas in Chhattarpur area have been occupied till Wednesday.
The paramilitary force said there is a huge influx of patients demanding admission at the facility and it has requested the Delhi government to increase oxygen supply so that admissions are increased. As per the latest available data of the SPCCC, the facility has taken a total of 228 patients till now since it began operations on April 26. Fifty-two patients were admitted on Wednesday.
Of the total patients, 156 are male and 72 are female. The total occupied beds, as per the data, are 211 (about 42 per cent of the total). Nine patients have been discharged, three referred to hospitals, while eleven patients have died after admission. More patients are being admitted through referrals over and above the mandatory rule of taking admissions only through the district surveillance officers of Delhi, officials said.
The paramilitary force on Tuesday night had issued a statement and said, “Almost all patients are in need of uninterrupted oxygen.” “The Delhi government has been requested to increase oxygen supply so that admissions are increased,” it said. The statement said, “There is a huge influx of patients demanding admission but our capacity is limited by the supply of oxygen.” “Efforts are on to gradually increase the capacity of the centre,” it said.
Officials had said though the Delhi government has not issued any official order doing away with the mandatory process of getting an approval of the district surveillance officer (DSO) for admitting patients at this Centre, some are being allowed in “based on referrals, considering the condition of the patient and following due processes”.
The SPCCC, at present, only has oxygen beds and no ICU and ventilator facilities. According to the laid out procedure, the SPCCC will have no walk-in admissions and these will be made after approval by DSOs of various Delhi districts.
The ITBP has said treatment, medicines and food for the patients at the centre will be free of cost. The cost will be borne by the Delhi government. As the Centre opened on Monday, several patients whose oxygen levels were fluctuating had queued up outside the facility with the hope of getting admitted there. The helpline numbers of the SPCCC are 011-26655547/48/49 and 011-26655949/69. Patient’s details like age, address, contact number, oxygen level, pulse and co-morbid conditions are required.