500-bedded COVID care centre opens at Delhi’s CWG village

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday inaugurated a 500-bed COVID care centre at the Commonwealth Games Village here, with the latter saying there is no shortage of beds for coronavirus patients in the city now.

Doctors For You, a not-for-profit organisation, supported the Delhi government in setting up the facility which is attached to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital.

The new facility is equipped with CCTV cameras, mental health counsellors, specialist and arrangements for food to ensure proper care of patients.

Out of the total 500 beds, 350 have been reserved for men, 100 for women and 50 for high-dependency patients. The NGO has deployed a team of 80 doctors and 150 nurses for the treatment of patients at the facility.

"Inaugurated 500 bedded CWG Village Covid Care Center with CM Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia... My appreciation for DDMA & 'Doctors For You' (Volunteer group of Doctors NGO) for establishing this centre in record time of 6 days," Baijal tweeted.

"It's an excellent example of government-civil society collaboration. I am confident it will strengthen Delhi's fight against Covid-19," he said in another tweet.

Inaugurating the facility through video conferencing, Kejriwal said, "We had anticipated a surge in the number of Covid cases after the lifting of the lockdown, but this surge was unexpected." "All our preparations that we did during the lockdown fell short after we lifted the curbs. Now, the situation in Delhi is under control. The parameters in Delhi are better now. There is no shortage of beds in Delhi as of now, but it does not mean that we do not take steps to tackle the surge," he said.

The chief minister said there has been a massive expansion of COVID-19 response infrastructure in Delhi in terms of beds and other facilities.

"I want to congratulate and appreciate the East district administration for setting up this COVID care facility in such a short span of time. I visited the centre and very good arrangements have been made there, especially the lodging spaces for doctors and nurses," he said.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said, "We are working with the district administration. We have also deployed medical professionals here and residential quarters have also been constructed here for their stay.

“I want to congratulate the district administration team, the health department team, and the NGO 'Doctors For You' for setting up this facility in just 6 days."