A record 28,395 coronavirus cases and 277 deaths marked the aggravation of the pandemic situation in Delhi on Tuesday as the positivity rate shot up to 32.82 per cent -- meaning every third sample came out positive -- amid a "serious oxygen crisis" unfolding in the city.
The city also faced acute shortage of ICU beds as the Delhi government warned that there will be an outrage if sufficient quantity of medical oxygen does not reach health facilities by Wednesday morning. It said oxygen is available only for the next 8-12 hours in most hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
Only 30 ICU beds for COVID patients were available in hospitals across Delhi at 10 pm, according to government data.
The national capital has reported 1,100 deaths due to the deadly virus in the last six days.
On Monday, Delhi had recorded 23,686 cases with a positivity rate of 26.12 per cent and 240 fatalities. It had witnessed 25,462 cases with a positivity rate of 29.74 per cent on Sunday, while the day before 24,375 COVID-19 infections and 167 fatalities were reported.
The city had witnessed 161 deaths on Sunday, 167 on Saturday, 141 on Friday and 112 on Thursday.
With the fresh cases, the national capital's cumulative tally has risen to 9,05,541. The death toll stands at 12,638, according to the latest health bulletin.
A total of 86,526 tests, including 56,724 RT-PCR ones, were conducted the previous day, it said.
So far, over 8.07 lakh patients have recovered in Delhi, the bulletin said, adidng the number of active cases in the city increased to 85,575 from 76,887 the day before.
The number of people under home isolation increased to 40,124 from 37,337 on Monday, while that of containment zones mounted to 17,151 from 15,039 the day before, it said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesay urged the Centre "with folded hands" to provide medical oxygen to Delhi. "Serious oxygen crisis persists in Delhi," he tweeted, adding some hospitals are left with just a few hours of it.
In another tweet, he said, "I urge the Central government with folded hands to urgently provide oxygen to Delhi."
"Most hospitals in Delhi have only eight to 12 hours of oxygen left. We have been asking the Centre to increase its supply for the last seven days. There will be chaos in Delhi if hospitals do not get enough oxygen by Wednesday morning," Sisodia tweeted in Hindi.
He also posted a note on Twitter mentioning the status of oxygen stock in various hospitals.
According to the note, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Burari Hospital, Ambedkar Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, B L Kapoor Hospital and Max Hospital in Patparganj were among others that had only eight to 12 hours of oxygen left.
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said their oxygen stock would last till 1 am. The hospital has 485 COVID beds, of which 475 are occupied. Around 120 patients are currently in the ICU.
Its chairman D S Rana said, "6,000 cubic meters of it is left, which at the rate of current consumption will last till 1 am. Need urgent replenishment."
