Delhi govt asks hospitals to reserve 10-15% beds for patients of vector-borne diseases

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said all the city hospitals have been asked by the government to reserve 10-15 per cent beds for patients of vector-borne diseases and also to ensure that no such patient is denied admission due to a lack of beds.

Seeing the low occupancy rate of the Covid-19 beds in the last few weeks, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has also asked the hospitals to use the vacant beds to accommodate dengue patients, Sisodia was quoted as saying in a statement.

The city logged 937 dengue cases this year till September-end and 321 more cases were reported in the first five days of October, taking the tally to 1,258, according to a report released by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Monday.

"The government has put all the hospitals across the national capital on alert and is keeping an eye on the situation. Hospitals have been directed to reserve 10-15 per cent of their beds for vector-borne disease patients and ensure that no patient is denied admission due to lack of beds," Sisodia said.

He said the present weather conditions are conducive for the transmission of vector-borne diseases. The deputy chief minister pointed out that the number of dengue cases has seen a sharp rise in the last two weeks, adding that there is no need to panic as all arrangements have been put in place to provide treatment to the patients at hospitals.

Approximately 8,800 beds are reserved for Covid patients in the city hospitals, including those run by the Centre, the Delhi government and private facilities.

"The occupancy of these Covid-19 beds has been less than 1 per cent for the last three-four weeks. So the government has also advised the hospitals to use these beds for accommodating VBD (vector-borne disease) patients," Sisodia said.

Delhi faced a tough time last year due to a rise in the number of dengue cases from August to November, but the hospitals tackled the situation diligently, the statement said.

Following the situation faced last year, a communication was sent to all the hospitals and local bodies to take necessary action for dealing with cases of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria and chikungunya.

A sharp rise in the number of dengue cases was witnessed in Delhi last week.

Sisodia also said the hospitals and the other authorities concerned have been asked to continuously update the details of such cases on the unified portal to help the government strategise better to deal with vector-borne diseases.

According to the MCD report, no death due to a vector-borne disease has so far been reported this year.

Dengue is caused by the bite of an Aedes aegypti mosquito and its larvae breed in clear water in leftover cups, pots, tyres, flower pots, open utensils carrying water, water coolers etc.

A total of 153 cases of malaria and 28 cases of chikungunya have also been reported this year in Delhi till October 5, the report said.

Meanwhile, the MCD conducted an inter-sectoral coordination committee meeting for the prevention and control of dengue, malaria and chikungunya, where it emphasised on strict vigilance and preventing stagnation of water in the wake of the recent rains, the civic body said in a statement.

The main objective behind holding the meeting was to ensure better coordination between the MCD and the other stakeholders for the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases, it added.