More than prepared to deal with coronavirus, says Kejriwal as cases cross 18K, deaths reach 416
New Delhi, May 30 () Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday asserted that his government is several steps ahead of the novel coronavirus and is more than prepared to deal with it, even as the total number of COVID-19 cases crossed the 18,000-mark and the death toll climbed to 416.
He also reiterated that there cannot be a permanent lockdown and focus needs to be on minimising the number of deaths even if cases rise.
"Main aapka mukhya mantri aapko yeh bharosa dilana chahata hoon ke aapki sarkar corona se chaar kadam aage chal rahi hai (I, as your chief minister, want to assure you that the government is several steps ahead of coronavirus," he said in an online media briefing on Saturday.
"I accept that there has been a surge in the number of cases. It is a matter of concern but there is no need to panic," Kejriwal added. "We are more than prepared to tackle it."
According to a health bulletin, with 1,163 fresh infections, the total number of coronavirus cases reached 18,549 on Saturday. The death toll rose to 416.
The previous daily high in fresh cases -- 1,106 -- was recorded on May 29.
The fresh cases include the medical director of the LNJP Hospital, and two other staff members of the COVID-dedicated facility. A senior technical supervisor with the same hospital also died of coronavirus, officials said.
Meanwhile, some more areas were declared as containment zones and their number rose to 122, authorities said.
According to a tally, Delhi now stands third after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in terms of the number of coronavirus cases in the country.
Kejriwal said the coronavirus cases went up by 8,500 over the past 15 days, but only 500 people needed to be admitted in hospitals while the rest are recovering at home.
The chief minister said he is concerned about keeping the death toll to the minimum and ensuring there are enough hospital beds for coronavirus patients.
"They (patients) should not struggle to get oxygen or ventilators. At present, 2,100 patients are in hospitals. We have arranged for enough beds and more are being arranged," he said.
As of now, there are a total of 6,600 beds and 4,500 of them are still unoccupied, he said, adding that the capacity will be ramped up to 9,500 beds soon.
"We have also issued orders last week to arrange 9,500 beds in Delhi by June 5. We are taking over hotels, and oxygen concentrators and beds will be arranged there," he said.
In the central government hospitals, there were 2,329 beds earlier which have now reduced to 2,229 beds, he said, without elaborating.
Owing to a huge demand for beds in private hospitals, their numbers have been increased from 677 to 2,677, which will further be ramped up to 3,677 beds by June 5, he said.
"A lot of people want to be treated in private hospitals, but...even Delhi government hospitals will provide you with the best of the facilities," said the CM.
On Friday, the Health Department declared three more Delhi government hospitals -- Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra Hospital and GTB Hospital -- as dedicated COVID-19 facilities.
Five more hotels will be attached with private hospitals and function as makeshift medical facilities to treat patients.
While assuring Delhiites about the government preparedness to handle the virus cases, Kejriwal reiterated that "we will have to learn to live with the virus".
"We cannot engage in a permanent lockdown. No one can predict that the coronavirus will go away if the timeline of the lockdown is increased by one or two months.
"We have to learn to live with coronavirus and we have to arrange for everything required to treat it," he added.
Kejriwal added that the government is developing an app to give people information about the availability of beds in hospitals and the ones with ventilators. The app will be launched next week.
"While on one hand the health infrastructure in Delhi has been made adequate, family members of coronavirus patients are still confused about where to take them for treatment.
"For the convenience of the people and to eliminate such issues, we are developing an app that will be launched on Monday. The app will show the data and status of beds and ventilators available with each and every hospital in Delhi," he said.
People who do not use smartphones can access this information on the website or though 1031 helpline, he said.
The chief minister appealed to people to not share "malicious" and "unverified contents" on social media.
"Some people create, post, and share videos for petty and dirty politics. A video of bodies is being circulated since today morning, claiming that the video is of a Delhi government hospital.
"It (the video) was not of the Delhi government hospital. In a similar way, a video of low-quality food being served in some government hospital was circulated, claiming it was of Delhi government hospital which is not true."
He said politics has to be left behind in this fight and everyone has to work for the country together.