NEW DELHI: During his Independence Day speech to corona warriors on Saturday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that his government will soon be sending oxygen concentrators to homes of Covid-19 patients in need. “In some cases, we have heard that a patient after recovering at a hospital, is discharged and after going back home experiences a sudden drop in oxygen level and ends up dying.
To prevent this from happening, from next week, we will provide an oxygen concentrator,” said Kejriwal. Since June, the Delhi government has been distributing oximeters to people in home isolation to prevent fatalities. A private company has been hired by the government to monitor the health status of patients and maintain data. Among other measures announced, Kejriwal talked about the ‘Delhi model’ of fighting coronavirus collectively.
“Delhi invented many new ways to fight the Covid-19 pandemic; one such successful method is home isolation. We heard stories about residents of world-class cities in Italy and New York on roads without beds. We formulated a home isolation method of treatment,” said Kejriwal. This year’s Independence Day celebration was held at the Delhi secretariat.
Earlier the event used to take place at Chhatrasal stadium, but due to the pandemic, fewer people were invited this time around. Corona warriors discharging various duties across different fields were also honoured by Kejriwal at the event. “It is our duty to provide compensation to a corona warrior who loses his/her life while serving the nation.
When I announced it, many civil defence volunteers and doctors associations called me saying that they appreciate this help, they feel like they are a part of the team,” said Kejriwal. The CM also talked about how Delhi was the first city in the nation that came up with a plasma therapy model of treatment and which is now being replicated in other cities. Kejriwal has appealed to residents to donate plasma but the response remains slow.