Delhi government hospitals step up COVID-19 preparedness with mock drills

Delhi government-run hospitals carried out mock drills on Sunday to assess their COVID-19 preparedness, amid a spurt in the number of coronavirus cases in the city. The Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital, which was a mainstay in the national capital's fight against Covid-19, carried out a two-hour-long mock drill.

"We assessed the patient response time. When a patient is brought to the hospital, how long does it take for us to shift him to a room.

"For critical patients who need to be shifted to the ICU, we have a red corridor. We checked whether all the ventilators and oxygen points were functioning. We have around 450 beds for coronavirus patients," Dr Suresh Kumar, the medical director of LNJP Hospital, told PTI.


The senior doctor said the bed occupancy at the LNJP hospital was zero in the last one month. The scenario has changed in the last few days, the doctor said.

"A 54-year-old patient is on a ventilator. He has diabetes while another 36-year-old patient is on oxygen support. He is suffering from pneumonia," he said.

By afternoon, the mock drill had been conducted at other hospitals too, including the Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital (SRHCH).

"The mock drill lasted for about an hour. All Covid preparedness parameters were assessed," a senior doctor at the hospital told PTI.

Though SRHCH is not a Covid facility, instructions were issued to ensure all logistics measures and health infrastructure are ready to deal with any eventuality, he said. "During the drill, we checked bed and oxygen availability, staff requirement and other ancillary factors as would be required if Covid patients are to be attended in future."

Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital also carried out a mock drill from 11 am to 2 pm, its medical director Dr SK Arora said.

"We had 15 dummy patients. Five with Severe acute respiratory infections, five had influenza-like illnesses and the remaining were paediatric and gynaecology patients. The drill was aimed at gauging the preparedness of all departments in handling such cases. We have 40 beds for Covid patients," he said.

Delhi recorded 139 coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 4.98 per cent on Saturday, according to data shared by the health department. A day earlier, the city logged 152 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 6.66 per cent. It logged 117 cases with a positivity rate of 4.95 per cent on Thursday.

The city had recorded Covid cases in three-digit figures last October.