Omicron threat: Kejriwal says 30,000 oxygen beds, PSA plants ready, storage capacity ramped up in Delhi

The Delhi chief minister said the preparations have been planned in a way that the government will be able to arrange 100 oxygen beds in every municipal ward on a two-week notice.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal (Photo | PTI)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal (Photo | PTI)

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the state is well prepared to tackle a possible next wave of pandemic, which may arise owing to the newly-detected strain Omicron.
Though the national capital’s genome sequencing labs have not detected any cases of this new virus strain, Kejriwal stated that the Delhi government is equipped with around 30,000 hospital beds, ICUs, ventilators and oxygen supplies.

“The Omicron variant of Coronavirus has increased people’s anxieties all over the world. We hope and pray that it doesn’t enter or spread in India. But in view of the probable threat, it is our duty as a responsible government to arrange all required essentials beforehand in order to tackle the virus. Today, I held a meeting with all concerned departments to discuss and assess the preparations, and took note of the status of facilities available.

The discussion covered the number of beds available, the number of beds needed additionally, testing rates and requirements, oxygen requirement, vaccination status, ICU requirement, manpower and the like,” Kejriwal said. Kejriwal said the government has arranged for 30,000 oxygen beds already, out of which around 10,000 are ICU beds. Additionally, 6,800 ICU beds are currently under construction which will be ready by February, bringing the capacity of ICU beds to around 17,000. 

“We have planned our preparations in such a way that we are able to arrange 100 oxygen beds in every municipal ward on a two-week notice. It is estimated that all the hospitals in Delhi have a combined oxygen capacity of 750 MT. To deal with storage and distribution problem of oxygen, we have constructed extra storage facilities of 442 MT,” he said. Health minister Satyendar Jain tweeted that the government is prepared to fight the new variant.

Oxygen adequate
The CM said telemetry equipment is installed in each small or large oxygen storage facility which will share real time data on the dashboard. The government has also imported 6,000 D-type empty cylinders.

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