Delhi Covid lockdown news live: National capital reports 20,394 new cases, 407 deaths

While hearing a batch of petitions of different hospitals and individuals facing a shortage of oxygen supply, beds, and essential medicines, the Delhi high court on Saturday directed all Delhi hospitals to submit complete data on Covid patients occupying beds in their facility from April 1 onwards.

Ten states including Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka accounted for 73.71 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases reported in a day, the Union health ministry said on Saturday. With a record daily rise of 4,01,003 COVID-19 cases, India's total tally climbed to 1,91,64,969 on Saturday, according to ministry data. Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are also among the 10 states that reported 73.71 per cent of the new cases.

In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Shoaib Iqbal on Friday demanded imposition of the President’s rule in Delhi. In a video message, Iqbal said he felt embarrassed being an MLA as he could not be of use to anyone. “Despite being a six-time MLA, there is no one who will listen to me, and I cannot contact anyone,” Iqbal said. In the message, he appealed to Delhi High Court to impose the President’s rule in the national capital with immediate effect, else the roads of Delhi would be covered with bodies.

Unlike the first wave of Covid-19 when most people requiring hospitalisation were the elderly and people with comorbidities, this time younger people — those younger than 40 years old — are developing severe symptoms that necessitate hospital stay. While one explanation for this is the increased virulence of the coronavirus in circulation, doctors say obesity might also be playing a big role in this. According to Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director, Lok Nayak Hospital, most of the younger Covid-positive people requiring admission in his hospital were either overweight or obese. “Two patients aged 40 and 41 years died in our hospital on Thursday. One of them weighed 120 kg, the other around 90 kg,” Kumar revealed, while explaining that obese people have high insulin resistance and their lung function and respiratory reserve are also compromised, thus predisposing them to diseaserelated complications.

The hospital oxygen crisis refuses to be resolved 11 days since it first flared up. From 8-10 hours of waiting time at refilling stations to not knowing when new stocks will arrive, hospitals continue to battle the scarcity hour by hour. On Friday at 4.15pm, Sehgal Neo Hospital on Outer Ring Road had oxygen enough for an hour more. It had faced problems even on Thursday after its supplier was changed. Many hospitals in a similar predicament are only admitting patients who don’t need oxygen.

“The state has failed in its fundamental obligation to protect the basic fundamental right, that is, right to life under Article 21,” said an anguished Delhi high court, which was informed on Friday about the passing away of a man, on whose behalf an ICU bed was being sought before it for the past few days. The bench, earlier during the same hearing, had noted the “complete failure of the state” when dealing with another plea. There was silence and moist eyes in the court following the announcement by a lawyer who was representing the patient, his brother-in-law, before Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli. A feeling of shock and despair overwhelmed the virtual hearing. “We are very sorry about it… We may at this stage record complete helplessness with the situation,” said the bench. The lawyer, Amit Sharma, had been pleading in court for an ICU bed for his brother-in-law, Atul Kumar Sharma. The patient’s condition had deteriorated over the course of the hearing in the past few days.

A 33-year-old woman died outside the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) on Thursday while her friend and landlord kept looking for a bed to admit her. She had Covid-like symptoms but had not got herself tested. Jagriti Gupta was taken to three private hospitals and then to GIMS where her attendants were told the same thing — beds are not available. They had been on the road for nearly seven hours. In a video that surfaced, Jagriti could be seen gasping for breath. Moments later, she passed away inside a car parked outside the GIMS compound. According to her landlord Avneesh Chaudhary, Jagriti’s oxygen levels had started dipping on Thursday. She worked at a private company and stayed by herself in Sector Beta 2. Her two daughters live with their father in Madhya Pradesh.