New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) The Centre on Sunday said that 250 ventilators have been delivered to the DRDO hospital here as part of its promise to help the Delhi government in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the nodal central agency to help the Delhi government during the coronavirus crisis, said that these ventilators will be installed at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) hospital near the Delhi airport.
MHA spokesperson Nitin Wakankar shared the information in a series of tweets.
The Bharat Electronics Limited had dispatched these 250 ventilators from Bengaluru three days ago and arrived here early on Sunday, said another official.
The Health Ministry has also delivered 35 BIPAP machines to the DRDO’s Covid facility.
As many as 125 BEL ventilators that reached Delhi on Saturday along with 116 oxygenated beds were installed in central government hospitals and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
After Delhi witnessed a surge in corona cases from October 28, crossing the 8,000-mark on November 11, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a review meeting on November 15 in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and assured that the DRDO would add 250 ICU beds to its existing 250, besides 35 BIPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) beds at its Covid-19 hospital.
At the high-level meeting chaired by Shah, Delhi was also assured that 750 more ICU beds will be provided in the city.
As per the MHA, these latest steps follow Shah’s lead to ramp up Delhi’s medical infrastructure and devise a new strategy to combat Covid surge in Delhi.
“For the first time, the number of RT-PCR tests in Delhi have exceeded the Rapid Antigen Tests.”
Delhi has so far recorded 5,23,117 coronavirus 19 ases, including 39,741 active cases and 8,270 deaths. A total of 4,75,106 patients have so far recovered.
–IANS
rak/tsb