Gautam Gambhir slams Kejriwal as Delhi govt returns his foundation's 50-bed COVID centre

Lashing out at the Kejriwal government, BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Friday, claimed that the Delhi government had returned Gautam Gambhir Foundation's isolation centre which had 50 beds, amid a surge in cases. He shared the Delhi government's document which shows that the foundation's COVID centre comprising of 50 beds, 20 oxygen cylinders and other equipment being returned to him. This move comes amid the Centre stepping in to aid the state government as the national capital's cases rise.

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Centre steps in to deal with Delhi's COVID situation 

On Thursday, the Union Home Ministry said that 500 isolation beds at a COVID care centre will be converted into oxygen beds. The Ministry also informed that in the last three days, the number of ICU beds in the national capital has been increased by 150. 'The government has decided to increase the number of daily RT-PCR tests in Delhi to 60,000 by the end of November,' it added. 

Moreover, 50 doctors and 175 paramedics from the newly appointed medical team have been deployed at the Chhatarpur and Shakur Basti COVID-19 care centres. 10 multi-disciplinary teams of MHA were formed to visit more than 100 private hospitals in the national capital. MHA has advised Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to carry out a detailed survey of private hospitals in the NCR districts on the lines of Delhi.

Meanwhile, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced that a person not wearing a mask shall be fined Rs.2000 instead of Rs.500. He also declared that 80% of the ICU beds in private hospitals shall be reserved for COVID-19 patients, while 60% of the non-ICU beds in private hospitals will be reserved for COVID-19 patients. Delhi so far has recorded over 4,95,598 positive Coronavirus cases, out of which 4,45,782 have successfully recovered while 7,812 people have died. In the past 24 hours, 6,396 new cases, 99 deaths and 4,421fresh recoveries have been reported.

Amid surge in cases, MHA joins hands with Delhi govt to battle COVID-19

Amit Shah takes over Delhi's COVID battle

Previously, in June, with the rapid increase in Delhi's cases and its COVID positivity, Home Minister Amit Shah ordered Delhi govt to cap the COVID testing rate at Rs 2400. Moreover, he ramped up testing increasing from 4000-5000 daily to 16,618 samples in two days - June 15 and 16, later tripling it 20,000 tests/day - which is Delhi's current testing rate. This helped the national capital tide the second wave of COVID-19 cases in Delhi.

321 ICU, oxygenated beds added in Delhi this week to deal with rising COVID-19 cases: MHA officials