More than 50% COVID-19 beds unoccupied: Delhi Health Minister

Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday said more than 50 percent of the beds reserved for coronavirus patients in Delhi are unoccupied.

"More than 1,200 ICU beds and around 9,500 normal ones are unoccupied at present. Overall, more than 50 percent beds are available. So, we are in a slightly better situation," he told reporters.

The minister said there were some problems related to oxygen supply in Delhi on Friday which have been resolved.

Delhi reported 5,482 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, while 98 more fatalities pushed the city's death count to 8,909.

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The positivity rate was 8.51 percent. It was 8.65 percent on Thursday and 8.49 percent on Wednesday.

On Friday, Jain had said Delhi has sufficient infrastructure and equipment to vaccinate its entire population in a few weeks once a COVID-19 vaccine was available.

"There is no need to worry about storage of vaccines. We have a large number of health care facilities, such as mohalla clinics, poly clinics, and hospitals etc., where COVID-19 vaccine can be administered to people," he had said.

Jain also said Delhi should be given priority during the distribution of the vaccine as it is the national capital.

A three-storeyed building at the premises of Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital has been identified for the storage of COVID-19 vaccines, he said.