The Union Government has asked states to regularly review the availability of required logistics, oxygen availability, and buffer stock of drugs across all health facilities in the states.
New Delhi: The COVID-19 scene is again turning from bad to worse and is certainly a matter of concern.
The national Delhi saw the daily cases of COVID-19 rise from 500 to above 2,700, with the tally reaching 2,716 fresh cases on Saturday (January 1). On Dec 31, 2021, the last day of the year, the city had recorded 1,796 cases. This was the highest jump of single-day cases recorded since May 21, 2021. The national capital then recorded 3,009 cases during the peak of the second wave. Delhi recorded a jump of 51.2 per cent between Friday and Saturday, but the casualty was only one.
Now, given rising cases, the Centre has asked the states and Union Territories to initiate the creation of field or makeshift hospitals to augment the availability of health infrastructure.
In a letter to the State Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the arrangement could be made in coordination with DRDO, CSIR, Private Sector, corporations, NGOs, and others. He said it would add to the rapid creation of field hospitals or temporary hospital set-ups.
States have also asked for a clearly defined mechanism to access testing, ambulance, and hospital beds.
The Union Government has also asked states to regularly review the availability of required logistics, oxygen availability, and buffer stock of drugs across all health facilities in the states.
After Maharashtra, Delhi has the second-highest Omicron cases, with 454 cases on Saturday. In Maharashtra, Mumbai recorded 6,180 new Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of nearly 13% on Saturday. The city contributed to almost 67 per cent of the total 9,170 Covid cases recorded in the state.
