Low positivity rate and adequate oxygen supply, has Delhi peaked off?

National

Arvind Kejriwal’s confirmation on Friday about the improving situation of oxygen crisis in Delhi has shown the state the ray of light at the end of the tunnel. The CM directed his officials to ensure that there are no deaths because of Oxygen shortage and asked them to make sure that all eligible people are vaccinated within three months.

This hopeful news comes at a time when Delhi has started to show signs of plateauing in the daily tally of COVID cases. The government received warning calls and messages from just nine hospitals and nursing homes across the city on May 6, indicating that the number of SOS calls has steadily decreased.

Kejriwal said during a high-level meeting that as Delhi had been provided with oxygen, no one in Delhi could suffer from a lack of oxygen, all Delhi hospitals should expand their beds, and each DM should set up new oxygen beds in their districts so that no one dies from a lack of oxygen in the city. He added that since oxygen was so essential, it should be used wisely and they must make every effort to avoid oxygen waste and conserve as much oxygen as possible. He went on to say that if at all possible, they could conserve oxygen and return it to the government so that it could be used elsewhere.

On Friday, Delhi recorded 341 new coronavirus deaths and 19,832 new cases, with the positivity rate remaining below 25% for the second day in a row. The number of new cases has stayed below 20,000 for the fourth time in the last five days. The regular number of Covid-protocol cremations has been steadily declining for over a month, bringing city crematoria to their limits, according to data from three municipal corporations. The companies supervised 506 cremations on Thursday, down from a high of 717 on April 29.

Also read: After metro cities, rural India struggles to access healthcare; Do we have a plan?