Delhi reports 23 COVID-19 cases, orders hospitals to ensure beds, oxygen & vaccine stock

Delhi has reported 23 COVID-19 cases, prompting the national capital's government to issue an advisory asking all hospitals to prepare for availability of beds, oxygen, medicines and vaccine. On Friday, Health Minister Pankaj Singh said that 23 COVID-19 cases have been reported till Thursday and the government is verifying the details whether patients are residents of Delhi or have travel history outside the city.

"The Delhi government is fully prepared to deal with any situation. We have already coordinated with all medical superintendents, doctors, and their teams across hospitals in the capital," Singh said in a statement.

The government has asked health institutions to send all positive samples for genome sequencing to Lok Nayak Hospital.


"The hospitals must ensure preparedness in terms of availability of beds, oxygen, antibiotics, other drugs and vaccine. All equipment such as ventilators, Bi-PAP, oxygen concentrators and PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) must be in functional condition," the Health Department stated.

Daily reporting of all parameters must also be done on the Delhi State Health Data Management Portal, the advisory stated.

According to the advisory, refresher training of dedicated staff may be conducted and daily reporting of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases in all health facilities (OPD/IPD) on the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal must be ensured. Confirmed influenza and Covid-19 cases may also be reported on IHIP under the L form.

The advisory also states that respiratory etiquettes are to be followed, including the wearing of masks on hospital premises and health facilities.

Several states, including Gujarat, Haryana and Kerala, are reporting Covid-19 cases.

On Thursday, Gujarat recorded 15 new coronavirus cases, while three cases of Covid-19 infection were reported from Haryana's Gurugram and Faridabad.

On Wednesday, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said the state had reported 182 Covid-19 cases in May.

On May 21, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao confirmed that the state had 16 active Covid-19 cases.

(With PTI inputs)