Delhi's Army hospital facing capacity constraints amid Covid-19 second wave

The Indian Army's base hospital in Delhi is operating under tremendous capacity constraints and working to increase the number of oxygenated beds from 450 to 950 by the month-end, sources said on Wednesday.

Currently, there are no long queues at the entrance gate of the hospital and the reception area is being used for segregating patients based on the severity of their diseases, the sources said.

The triage does not take more than 5-10 minutes, they clarified.

The queue of waiting patients at the reception is due to the capacity constraints of the hospital, they noted.

"The unprecedented situation in the NCR (National Capital Region), the very high number of patients seeking medical assistance and the refusal of ECHS-empanelled hospitals to treat the veterans are adding to the load of the hospital," one of the sources said.

In order to manage the large number of personnel in the reception area, a token system has been created, which does not differentiate between anyone on the basis of their rank or serving status, the sources said.

The hospital is operating under tremendous capacity constraints and prioritisation is being done with the sole aim of saving maximum lives, they stated.

The capacity of the hospital was enhanced from 340 beds (including 250 oxygenated beds) to 650 beds (including 450 oxygenated beds) in April-end, they said.

Work is in progress to increase the number of oxygenated beds to 950 by May-end, they noted.

India has been badly hit by the second wave of the coronavirus infection as hospitals in several states are reeling under a severe shortage of oxygen, drugs, equipment and beds.

With a record single-day rise of 3,780 fatalities, the COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 2,26,188 in the country, while the tally of cases has risen to 2,06,65,148 with 3,82,315 fresh infections, the health ministry said on Wednesday.