Health workers wearing PPE stand outside the COVID-19 patient reception ward at GTB hospital in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has convened an all-party meeting today to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the national capital. The meeting will be attended by the leaders of AAP, BJP, and Congress.
According to Kejriwal, the government is taking several measures to curb the graph, adding that over 660 ICU beds will be added in various city government hospitals in the next few days. He said that a proposal has been sent to the Lieutenant Governor to allow the city government to impose "local lockdowns in the market places which are potential COVID hotspots".
READ MORE: Record 131 Covid-related deaths in single day in Delhi
In another related development, the Delhi government has issued an order allowing all COVID-19 hospitals of the Delhi government to "engage fourth and fifth year MBBS students, interns and BDS doctors to assist duty doctors at an honorarium of Rs 1,000 (8 hour shift) and Rs 2,000 (12 hour shift) per day". In case of interns, the honorarium would be over and above their stipend.
Delhi has seen an alarming spike in cases in recent weeks, recording more new cases than any other state in the country. On Wednesday, the national capital recorded 7,486 cases, taking the tally to over 5 lakh. As many as 131 fatalities, the highest single-day death count till date, were recorded, taking the toll to 7,943.
According to a report in IANS, the Delhi Corona App showed that 1,236 out of 1,347 ventilator beds in dedicated ICU wards across the hospitals are occupied. All the major private and government hospitals have shown full occupancy, as per the application.
