NEW DELHI: Seeking to bolster healthcare infrastructure in Delhi in anticipation of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 160 PSA oxygen plants are being installed at various government-run and private facilities across the city, sources said on Wednesday.
Of these 160 plants, 66 of those, including 17 under the PM-CARES were being set up at Delhi government hospitals, 10 plants at central government hospitals and 84 at private facilities, they said.
Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday reviewed the status and progress of works on installation of PSA (pressure swing adsorption) oxygen plants here during an online meeting, which was attended by the chief secretary, the principal secretary in the city health department, and other senior officials, sources said.
Baijal, while appreciating the efforts being undertaken to boost healthcare infrastructure, reiterated that the situation faced during the last wave should not be repeated, a source quoted him as saying.
It was informed during the meeting that 160 such oxygen plants with a capacity of 148.11 MT were being installed at various government-run and private hospitals in the national capital, sources said.
The Lt governor inquired if the figure of 160 plants being installed was normative or based on demand, or limited by supply constraints.
It was informed that the figure was based on requirements of around 150 MT (metric ton) posed by hospitals, they said.
Delhi had been reeling under a brutal second wave of the pandemic that is sweeping the country, claiming a massive number of lives daily, with the oxygen supply shortage issue during April-May at various hospitals, adding to the woes.
While daily cases and death counts are steadily falling and positivity rate shrinking, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has cautioned that the chances of the third wave of the pandemic was "quite real" and said that it was working on a war-footing to combat it.
Of the total 160 plants, while 36 had been commissioned at Delhi government hospitals, 27 other plants were expected to be commissioned by August 31.
The remaining three ones, where plants are expected to arrive by September 30, commissioning will be completed by October 15, sources said.
At the Centre-run hospitals, while six out of 10 had already been commissioned, the remaining four were to be commissioned by August 15.
Among the plants for private hospitals, 37 out of 84 plants had been commissioned, while work was in progress on the remaining 47 plants, they added.
While the work on installation of plants at government hospitals was being closely monitored and executed, it was felt that a fixed timeline was necessary to be obtained from the private hospitals also, and be monitored by the government, so as to ensure that plants are installed and made operational in time and before any eventuality.
The Lt governor also stressed upon monitoring and completion of preparatory works in cases, where final commissioning was dependent upon arrival of plants, sources quoted him as saying.
Baijal instructed that the critical dates and timelines committed by the hospitals be monitored and met, and said that he would again review the status accordingly.
Delhi recorded 77 fresh COVID-19 cases and one death while the positivity rate stood at 0.10 per cent, according to a health bulletin on Wednesday.
Seventy-one patients recovered in the last 24 hours, it said.
According to the bulletin, 215 people are in home isolation, a minor increase from the previous day's figure of 214, while the number of containment zones has declined to 472 from 524, a day ago.
There are 688 active cases in the city, up from the previous day's figure of 683.
A total of 76,095 tests, including 54,159 RTPCR/ CBNAAT/TrueNat, were conducted in the last 24 hours, while the rest were rapid antigen tests, the bulletin added.
Out of the 13,715 beds, only 389 are occupied.
Delhi had recorded 76 coronavirus cases and two fatalities while the positivity rate stood at 0.11 per cent on July 12, according to a health bulletin issued earlier in the day.
The Delhi government did not release the health bulletin on Tuesday.
On July 11, the city had recorded 45 COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day rise in over a year, and three deaths while the positivity rate stood at 0.08 per cent.
According to covid19India.org, a crowd-sourced initiative that collects data on COVID-19 and vaccination in India, Delhi had recorded 17 cases on April 15 last year.
The city has registered 14,35,281 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started last year.
A total of 14,09,572 patients have recovered so far.
The death toll stands at 25,021, the bulletin stated.
The case fatality rate stands at 1.74 per cent.
On July 10, Delhi had recorded 53 cases with a positivity rate of 0.07 per cent and three deaths.
On July 9, the city had logged 76 cases and one death, while the positivity rate stood at 0.19 per cent.
The national capital had recorded 81 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.11 per cent and three deaths on July 8.
A total of 1,29,054 beneficiaries were vaccinated in the last 24 hours, including 36,507 who were given the second dose, thereby making them fully vaccinated.
A total of 90,73,103 beneficiaries have been vaccinated till now and of them, 21,31,907 have been fully vaccinated.
Delhi faced a brutal second wave of the pandemic that claimed a large number of lives daily.
The rapid rise in the number of cases led to a shortage of medical oxygen at various city hospitals.
On April 20, the city had reported a record 28,395 cases.
On April 22, the case positivity rate was 36.2 per cent, the highest so far.
At 448, the highest number of deaths was reported on May 3.