A time to talk

The Delhi government has to collaborate more effectively with health care experts to better manage Covid-19

- NAMITA KOHLI

IN DELHI, BETWEEN life and death, there is a dashboard of numbers. You could look at the Delhi government's Corona Dashboard that gives an estimate of beds and ventilators dedicated to Covid-19 and feel, at least somewhat, reassured. On June 10, out of 9,061 beds and 509 ventilators, 4,378 beds and 245 ventilators were vacant. But, juxtapose this with the latest Delhi health bulletin that shows an active case count of 18,543, and you could not be faulted for being unsettled. Moreover, when the estimate of beds and ventilators is read against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s dystopian estimate of 5.5 lakh cases by July 31, and the need for 80,000 beds, you ought to feel terrified.

Sisodia’s comments imply that over the next month and a half, around one in 40 people in Delhi would be infected. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s repeated assurances— most recently on May 25 and June 10—that Delhi was ready to handle the deluge, will be put to the test. Experiences from the early phase of the pandemic in the capital, however, are far from encouraging. Anecdotal accounts from those seeking health care in the capital, including several prominent citizens, suggest that it is difficult to get a simple Covid-19 test, find a hospital bed and even a place to lay the deceased to rest.