NEW DELHI: From five-star hotels to flats constructed for the economically weaker sections and school and college campuses to police stations and court complexes, the Delhi government has set up institutional Covid-19 isolation centres in all types of public and private buildings across the city.
While 552 of the nearly 4,000 operational beds are occupied, more than 1,700 beds are to be added soon.
With the gradual rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the past one month and more and more cases of the Omicron variant, a designated isolation unit at the Delhi government’s LNJP Hospital was created. Very soon, however, international passengers testing positive were shifted to the government’s free Covid care centres at Commonwealth Games Village, Terapanth Bhawan in Chhatarpur and Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre.
The IBIS hotel near the airport was among the first to be designated as a paid isolation facility and, along with other centres, was linked with nearby Delhi government hospitals. With no or very mild symptoms being seen in most Omicron cases, international passengers with no major symptoms were shifted from LNJP to dedicated Covid care centres or paid isolation units at private hotels.
The total bed strength is now 3,947, out of which 2,842 are oxygenated beds. New centres are set to open soon at South West, North and West districts, which have a combined bed strength of 1,765 and will take the tally to 5,712.
New Delhi district has 154 Covid-19 positive cases in isolation centres operating from two five-star (Aloft and Novotel) and two three-star hotels (IBIS and Red Fox), apart from Viswa Yuvak Kendra in Chanakyapuri.
Three centres are expected to become operational at South West district within days and include 500 beds at Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board’s EWS flats in Dwarka’s Sector 16-B, 200 beds on the hostel campus of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College in Sector 3, and 40 beds at a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) community centre in Sector 9.
While the biggest isolation facility in Shahdara district is at DDA’s Yamuna Sports Complex, which has 400 oxygenated beds, a 70-bedded facility with oxygen support has been set up at the Shahdara police station, and three oxygenated beds are available at Karkardooma Court Complex.
A 1,000-bed facility has been created by the public works department at Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission in North district, but is waiting for the health department’s government approval. A 25-bed facility at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Moti Nagar in West district is also expected to become functional soon.
