Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has warned that the state could see as many as 37,000 COVID-19 cases per day when the third wave hits.
He added that the state government is making adequate arrangements including a separate paediatric task force for children as experts say they could be affected in the upcoming wave.
Additionally, oxygen capacity and buffer stocks of medicines are being augmented, he said.
In order to identify variants of the virus, Kejriwal stated that two genome sequencing labs will be set up at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.
On Friday, Kejriwal chaired a six-hour meeting with officials and experts to prepare a comprehensive plan for a third wave of the coronavirus.
"At the peak of the second wave, 28,000 cases were reported on one day. On the basis of our consultation with experts, we are assuming that during the peak of the third wave, there might be 37,000 cases. Keeping this number in mind, we will ramp up our beds, oxygen capacity and medicines," he said.
To tackle oxygen shortage, the chief minister said that the state government will be buying 25 oxygen tankers and putting up 64 oxygen plants.
On May 27, the Delhi government had set up a 13-member committee to prepare an action plan for a possible third wave after assessing the current status and projected requirement of health infrastructure such as hospitals, oxygen plants and drug supplies.
According to official data, Delhi recorded 26,169 cases on April 23. On May 3, the city registered a record 448 deaths.
It can be mentioned that Delhi is seeing a steady decline in COVID-19 cases in the last several days. The positivity rate is also going on, official data shows.
