Hospitals’ ICU occupancy tells a serious COVID tale in Delhi

Non-ICU patients reduced by 58% while ICUs saw a drop of only 11%

The sharp dip in COVID-19 cases in the Capital is reflected in the discharge of patients from general COVID wards of hospitals in the past few days, but not in those occupying ICU beds. On May 10, the number of patients on ICU beds was 5,403, a figure that dropped to 4,798 — over 11% — on May 22. According to Delhi government statistics, the cumulative tally of active COVID-positive cases recorded a decline of 67%, plummeting from 83,809 to 27,610 between May 10 and 22, and the number of non-ICU patients reduced by over 58% from 12,740 to 5,226. More and more COVID-19 patients are being discharged from hospitals on a daily basis indicating the steady departure of the second wave of novel coronavirus infection from the Capital. But the thousands of seriously ill among them who continue to occupy ICU beds have emerged as a cause for concern. According to doctors, this indicates both the virulence of new variants as well as the severity of lung damage suffered by COVID patients who contracted the infection in the second wave.