corona news

Rural Rajasthan Runs From the State, Not Medicines

Fear and mistrust of the government has put a load on civil society.

People disappear into their homes as soon as my colleague and I appear with medicine kits in hand for suspected COVID-19 patients during our visits to hamlets in Gogunda, a block in Udaipur district, Rajasthan. Every morning in Gogunda, I wake up to the sound of wailing, signalling a death, or see new shaved heads in the surrounding villages. From those in the community who trust us ‘sanstha ke log’ or ‘NGO people’, we hear that people are afraid of the government and its response to COVID-19, whether it is medicines and vaccines or isolation and hospitalisation. “Yeh maarne ki goli hai (This medicine is poisoned)” “Teeka se mar jayenge (The vaccine will kill us)” “Aage [Udaipur] le jaayenge toh maar daalenge (If we are referred to Udaipur, they will kill us)” is a constant refrain.

When Basic HealthCare Services (BHS), Udaipur first noticed a sudden spike in COVID-19-like symptoms in rural and tribal regions of Udaipur in April, the peak of the wedding season, their aim was simple: to prevent the spread of the virus by providing care and support to the community. With the collaboration of their partner organisations Aajeevika Bureau (AB) and Shram Sarathi (SS), so far in Gogunda block, 130 volunteers from the community have been identified and trained and they in turn have distributed 925 medicine kits along with homecare tips to those experiencing symptoms, following up on them periodically.

With the response strategy consisting of a three-pronged approach – community response, a Covid Care Centre (CCC) in collaboration with the state government and a helpline at Amrit Clinic run by BHS – we all believed that our tasks were mapped out for us.

However, no one anticipated the difficulty we face in the field every day merely for people to admit they are sick. People also refuse to accept kits from the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) who have been tasked with door-to-door surveys and distribution of medicine kits by the government. With some people blaming the weather, malaria or typhoid, most deny their symptoms outright even if they are shivering in shawls in 40-degree heat or coughing into their scarves. “Abaar toh sab ready hai (We are fine now)” is the standard response. Our newly adopted strategy is to agree with what they say, not prove that they have the virus.

BHS staff training community and ASHA volunteers. Photo: Author provided

The trust and faith that we know the community has in us sansthawale does not always help in the case of COVID-19. Fake news and rumours spread as fast as the virus through WhatsApp videos of metal nails in multivitamin tablets and Facebook doctors who make vague claims of poisoned vaccines that create fear and resistance to government medicines and the vaccine. Survey lists of the ill, COVID-19 tests and government-sponsored medicine are all avoided for fear of being sent to Udaipur never to be seen again, reinforced by fake videos of organ trafficking and kidney theft. Doctors are seen as people who take lives rather than save lives and advance their careers at the people’s expense.

However, our community volunteers have a vastly different experience on the ground. “Aap mein aur mujhmein raat-din ka farak hai. Main toh vahi rehta hoon aur aap bahar se aate ho (There is a stark difference between you and me. I live with them whereas you are seen as an outsider),” Kishan ji tells me. A volunteer who lives in and is from the community has two advantages – they are known and trusted by people and can be contacted and held accountable easily. “There lies one of our answers; that we harness local solutions… When we go in the beginning, in some places people don’t trust our volunteers. But just the fact that they are there and they are engaging with people [they] are coming to realise that these women or these men are here for our good. As the trust is getting built, they are coming back,” says Dr Sanjana Brahmawar Mohan, co-founder and director at BHS.

Also read: Delhi’s Ongoing Food Security Challenge: What Went Wrong and How Can It Be Fixed?

Interestingly, people are not disregarding treatment completely and are looking after their health in their own ways and on their own terms. Quacks or jholachaap doctors and faith healers are considered the best available alternative as they make no record of the patient and they charge money for their services. Ramli Bai from Dungri Kheda, a hamlet in Gogunda, explained that people believe free medicine is duplicate medicine. Has the effect of aggressive globalised privatisation reached remote rural areas already, successfully convincing people that only paid healthcare is quality healthcare?

In Chhaali, a panchayat in Gogunda, people were ironically taking injections of unspecified medication to prevent the virus and were not afraid to do so. Will people then agree to get vaccinated by jholachaaps based solely on the trust they have in someone with no government tag attached? Dr Pavitra Mohan, co-founder and director at BHS, however believes that “Bangali (jholachaap) is not a viable option of course, for the healthcare per se because they are an unskilled, exploitative force. But they are there… basically feeding on either the non-availability or mistrust of the system. So I think the work ahead is to strengthen the system so that the trust can be rebuilt.”

BHS staff distributing medicine kits. Photo: Author provided

Past experiences of people like Punaram ji, the ex-sarpanch of Chitravaas, Gogunda, speak volumes of the treatment that tribal communities are meted out in public health facilities. As the sarpanch at the time he was able respond to a rude and disrespectful CHC staff with “Tameez se baat karo (Talk politely)” but inhumane treatment such as people being ordered to bathe and then return for treatment due to their alleged stench strips them of dignity. There are also local collectives and politically vested groups that have a very strong influence over people in Chitravaas who claim that COVID-19 is a hoax. From Bherulal ji in Jhunjharpura hamlet in Gogunda, I learnt that “Log quarantine se darte hai (People are afraid of quarantine facilities)”, a residual effect from last year’s nationwide lockdown when institutional quarantine facilities in the region were unhygienic, cramped, and the people unfed and uncared for. The fear is more palpable this year with people witnessing deaths much closer to home and the high death tolls constantly appearing in media headlines.

As for being a sansthawala, I find myself constantly and repeatedly clarifying that I am not from the government but from an NGO and that I have nothing to do with the sarkar in the hopes that people will take the medicine, practice isolation at home and agree to referrals. I am after all dealing with people who have their own understandings and perceptions of the world and cannot be forced to believe in something or someone that has rarely helped them. Behavioural change is extremely difficult to bring about as I found out when a community volunteer who is a collective leader associated with AB for almost two decades fell ill. The very first thing he did was get a high dose injection from a jholachaap.

But there are also days that help keep me going, like when I asked a fearful man to open the multivitamin capsule and check for nails himself and felt that the first step to trust could be built. Or when I see that the faith people have in a volunteer from the community translates into people accepting the medicine kits. But sometimes I do question if the immediacy of the need of medication, which is being bought and distributed free of cost by an NGO in our case, trumps the long term goal of demanding accountability and quality service from the public health system? Dr. Mohan says “We will have to play a role in both of them – one is working with communities to eliminate the fears and distrust and myths and on the other hand working with the system to ensure availability closer to where people live.”

Shifa Zoya is currently a Field Fellow at Aajeevika Bureau, Udaipur, working on migrant labour issues. She has completed her BA in Anthropology and Psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

COVID Crisis: A Personal Experience of Treatment in Lucknow

As the UP CM claims oxygen, drugs and beds are available, those on the ground watch relatives die for the lack of medicines and hospital facilities.

There is no better way to describe the situation faced by COVID-19 patients in Lucknow during this second wave of the pandemic than with the lyrics of the song All Izz Well from the 2009 film, 3 Idiots: “Murgi kya jaane ande ka kya hoga? Life milegi, ya tawe pe fry hoga (The hen does not know what will happen to her eggs: will the eggs hatch, or will they be fried in a pan)?”

The struggle starts the moment you get a fever and call the integrated control room to request a COVID-19 test. First you wait 20 to 25 minutes for the phone to be answered. Then, when someone finally picks up at the other end, you get little time to speak.

“Aapka test hua hai? Nahin hua hai? Pehle kariye phir baat karega (Have you had the test? No? First take the test, then call us),” they shoot at you and immediately hang up.

Five people in my home were affected by the virus – my mother, my sister-in-law, a nephew, a niece and above all, Lokkhi didi.

I had been in the fifth standard when Lokkhi di arrived to help my working mother with household chores. She had been supposed to stay only for a couple of months, but never went back. Within a few days, she had become an essential part of the family and the soul of our home.

COVID struck us all on April 6 as it had ruthlessly done with countless families in Uttar Pradesh. Each one of us suffered fever, coughs and colds. But though we all recovered, Lokkhi di did not. Her situation became critical, with falling oxygen levels and acute chest congestion.

Also read: ‘No Shortage of Oxygen’: Adityanath Wants NSA Invoked Against Those Who Spread ‘Rumours’

Frantic, I called almost every source I knew for an oxygen cylinder. No phones were answered. I called the doctors I knew well, the bureaucrats and political leaders. No one answered their phone. Finally, a relative who had a small cylinder of oxygen for emergencies shared it with us. This gave us three hours to arrange for more oxygen as doctors attended to Lokkhi di at home and I managed to procure a 10-litre cylinder of oxygen, though it needed constant refilling. By 2 am, the cylinder was completely empty.

The nearest refilling station was at Nadarganj, about 15 to 20 km from my house. When I arrived there, I saw heartrending scenes. An old man was crying; his 40-year-old son desperately needed oxygen. A 25-year-old woman was begging for oxygen; both her parents were unable to breathe. Other people at the refilling station had similar stories. None of them could take their relatives to hospitals: no beds were available. All they could do was monitor the patients with pulse oximeters and give them oxygen at home.

State of beggary

To attempt to get a COVID-19 test in Lucknow is to enter a state of chaos. Private laboratories cannot conduct tests. Only government hospitals can. In any case, many people are already sick – entire families are sick – and unable to leave home for a test. But even those well enough go to the government hospitals have to fill forms, plead, persuade the staff before the test can be conducted. Apparently the UP government is now considering allowing private laboratories to conduct the tests.

Also read: A Doctor’s Plea: Forget For Once ‘Your’ Political Image and Give Our Patients What They Need

If you manage to get a test, well done! But God forbid that you test positive because that will be the beginning of your end. The allocation of a bed at a hospital depends on who recommends it. Unless the person doing the recommending is the state’s chief secretary or a BJP office bearer, you will not get a bed at any government hospital. But even if you know people in high places and manage to get a bed at a private hospital, do not get excited. You may have a bed, but you don’t have a BiPAP machine (non-invasive ventilator), which could be vital at this juncture. The doctors will tell you, “Please be prepared for any eventuality. Hamare paas ventilator nahin hai (We do not have a ventilator).”

The Costs of Corona

In Lucknow, even the most basic aids to fight the virus are either unavailable or priced out of reach.

For example, 10-litre oxygen cylinders can be had for anything between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 and every refill costs extra. A box of gloves is Rs 1,200, a PPE kit is Rs 1,100 and a body bag is Rs 2,000 upwards.

Lemons, which are necessary for their vitamin C, now cost Rs 200 per kg.

Glucose, Zincovit and sanitisers are unavailable and so are medicines that can ease congestion, such as Foracart, Levolin and Budecort.

This is in stark contrast to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s claim that that the state has enough oxygen and that the number of hospital beds for patients of COVID has been increased. If his claim is a fact and beds and ventilators are available, no one knows this, because getting into a hospital is a huge task in itself. The frontline health workers may be gods at this point, but they are also ruthless, rude and choosy about who to treat.

The nearest government hospital has an elaborate COVID ward, but it will not admit you. They will not even talk to you because you have no referral from the hospital’s chief medical officer (CMO). Without a referral from the CMO, your test and recommendation are useless. So the only option is a private hospital. The private hospital, however small it is, is a money depositing machine. So be prepared. However, on Friday, April 23, after countless lives were lost, the government very kindly decided to allow patients to be admitted in government hospitals without the CMO’s referral.

COVID in real life

I constantly surf the internet to read what the UP chief minister has to say about Lucknow’s preparedness for the second wave of the pandemic. Based on what I have figured out so far, the chief minister believes that all is well, although a little more is required, which the Central government has kindly facilitated by diverting funds to the state.

But everything I have described above is from my own experience. I watched a close relative die due to the lack of medicines and hospital facilities. My brush with COVID-19 is therefore tragic. And it raises questions about the tall claims that the UP government makes on a daily basis.

Getting a hospital bed was a herculean task. We managed to admit Lokkhi di in a private hospital at 9 pm on April 18. There was no ventilator, so they gave her oxygen. The doctors constantly told us, “She needs a ventilator, but we have none. So anything can happen at any moment and don’t come back to us with questions and arguments.”

Also read: A Part-Time Central Government With Part-Time Ministers Can’t Handle a Crisis Like COVID

As the night passed, Lokkhi di’s condition worsened. I continued to request the doctors on duty to do something about it. At noon the following day, after many requests, a BiPAP machine arrived for Lokkhi di and the doctors used injectable drugs. But Lokkhi di had massive chest congestion and we were informed that the doctors couldn’t help her. “Please take her to a COVID hospital,” they told us.

There was no way to get Lokkhi di a bed at a COVID hospital and I said so, begging them to do something to help her recover.

“We can do nothing. She is in a critical condition. Please do what you have to do,” they said.

From then on, the doctors on duty took only a minimal interest in Lokkhi di’s condition. On Tuesday, April 20, I begged the owner of the hospital to administer the antiviral drug, Remdesivir, to Lokkhi di.

“In the first place, the drug is unavailable. On top of that, a dose that should cost Rs 1,500 is now selling for Rs 15,000. And on top of that, she will need to be kept in the intensive care unit for 10 days for the treatment to be effective. We cannot spare a bed in the ICU for so long,” the hospital owner said to me.

I begged him. “Please,” I said. “I will pay. I will do whatever I have to do.”

He asked me to come back after 10 minutes.

I went to the ward to check on Lokkhi di. She was not moving. It appeared there was no life left in her body. I went to the duty doctors. After I asked them twice to check, they did me that honour and informed me that she had left this mortal world.

“She was a COVID patient, so there is a protocol to be followed,” the doctors then said. “Do you want us to hand over the body to you or will you leave it to us?”

Shattered, I asked what the difference was. The doctors said, “You can take the body after an undertaking to us that you will cremate her with the COVID protocols. Otherwise, she will remain here until the Lucknow Nagar Nigam officials arrive.”

I handed over an undertaking and called for an ambulance. They quoted a huge amount but by now I had no strength to negotiate. I went to five shops before I could get a body bag (which now costs Rs 2,000 upwards) and two sets of PPE kits (now priced at Rs 1,100 each) for the ward boys and at last Lokkhi di was placed in the ambulance for her final journey.

As I stood at the crematorium at a distance, watching Lokkhi di’s body being taken to a place I was not allowed to enter, I received a phone call.

“This is the integrated control command centre for COVID,” said the person who called. “We were just informed that you have a COVID positive patient.”

In Lucknow in the second wave of the pandemic, no one knows whether they will survive or whether they will be fried.

India Sees 1.45 Lakh New COVID-19 Cases, More Than 10L Active Cases

A five-month high of 794 deaths brought the toll to 168,436.

New Delhi: With a record 1,45,384 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 1,32,05,926, the health ministry said on Saturday.

The number of active cases has breached the 10-lakh mark again after around six-and-a-half months. A five-month high of 794 deaths brought the toll to 168,436.

Registering a steady increase for the 31st day in a row, the number of active coronavirus cases in the country has gone up to 10,46,631, accounting for 7.93% of its total caseload, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 90.80%.

The active caseload was at its lowest at 1,35,926 on February 12, accounting for only 1.25% of the total number of cases in the country.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1,19,90,859, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.28%, the data stated.

Also read: Centre Must Take Responsibility for Vaccine Shortages and Act Now

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, the 30-lakh mark on August 23, the 40-lakh mark on September 5 and the 50-lakh mark on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

Several states have announced over the last few days that they are witnessing a vaccine shortage. Most recently, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting another 30 lakh doses immediately. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also reportedly facing shortages.

(With agency inputs)

COVID-19: More Than 90k New Cases; Narendra Modi Chairs High-Level Meeting

Maharashtra alone accounts for more than half (58.19%) of the total active caseload of the country.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday to review the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination programme amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

PTI sources said top officials, including the cabinet secretary, principal secretary to the prime minister, health secretary and NITI Aayog member Vinod Paul, attended the meeting.

India on Sunday recorded 93,249 new coronavirus infections, the highest single-day rise so far this year, which took the total COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,24,85,509, according to Union health ministry data.

This is the biggest daily rise in cases since September 19, when 93,337 fresh infections were recorded.

The death toll climbed to 1,64,623 on Sunday with 513 new fatalities, the ministry data updated at 8 am showed.

Eight states including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat account for 80.96% of the 93,249 new daily COVID-19 cases, according to the Union health ministry.

Watch | ‘Double Mutant’ Likely Fueling Maharashtra’s COVID-19 Surge: Shahid Jameel

India is seeing a steep intensification in the doubling time of the COVID-19 cases. As of April 4, it is 115.4 days, the ministry said on Sunday.

India’s total active caseload has reached 6,91,597 and now comprises 5.54% of the country’s total infections. A net rise of 32,688 cases recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Punjab cumulatively account for 76.41% of the total active cases in the country, the ministry said.

Maharashtra alone accounts for more than half (58.19%) of the total active caseload of the country.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 49,447. This is followed by Chhattisgarh with 5,818 cases while Karnataka reported 4,373 new cases.

Twelve states including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases, the ministry said.

India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,16,29,289 with 60,048 recoveries being registered in a span of 24 hours. Besides, 513 deaths were reported in a day.

Watch | ‘India’s Current COVID-19 Surge May Be Worse Than the First, Needs Attention’

Eight states account for 85.19% of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (277). Punjab follows with 49 daily deaths, the ministry said.

Fourteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Odisha, Assam, Puducherry, Ladakh (UT), D&D & D&N, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

On the issue of vaccination, the ministry said the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 7,59,79,651 (through 11,99,125 sessions).

These include 89,82,974 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the 1st dose, 53,19,641 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 96,86,477 frontline workers who have received the 1st dose and 40,97,510 FLWs who have taken the 2nd dose .

In addition, 4,70,70,019 and 8,23,030 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years have been administered the 1st and 2nd dose respectively.

The cumulative vaccination figure includes over 6.5 crore (6,57,39,470) first doses, while the second dose numbers have crossed the 1 crore mark as well (1,02,40,181), the ministry said.

As on day-78 of the vaccination drive (3rd April), 27,38,972 vaccine doses were given. Out of which, 24,80,031 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 2,58,941 beneficiaries received their 2nd dose of vaccine.

Eight states account for 60.19% of the cumulative doses given so far. Maharashtra alone accounts for 9.68∞ of the total doses given in India.

Maharashtra has alone distributed 65,59,094 1st doses and 7,95,150 2nd doses.

(With PTI inputs)

Delhi: COVID Patients No Longer Have to Visit a Care Centre for Medical Assistance

The lieutenant governor’s (LG) order on patients visiting the COVID-care centres for a clinical assessment was a bone of contention between the Centre and the Delhi government.

New Delhi: The Centre has withdrawn the order that made it mandatory for those testing positive for the coronavirus to visit a COVID-care centre for a clinical assessment, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday.

With 3,390 fresh instances, the number of coronavirus cases stood at 73,780 in Delhi on Thursday, including 26,586 active ones. Sixty-four fatalities were reported, taking the death toll due to the disease to 2,429 in the city.

Like the earlier system, medical teams will assess the health of a patient by visiting his residence and see whether he needs to be shifted to a hospital or COVID-care centre, Sisodia said after a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting.

The lieutenant governor’s (LG) order on patients visiting the COVID-care centres for a clinical assessment was a bone of contention between the Centre and the Delhi government. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation in the national capital, which had been urging the Centre to reverse the order, said the new system was causing inconvenience to the patients and burdening the already stressed health infrastructure of the city.

“The central government and the LG have scrapped the order of mandatory visit to a COVID-care centre for all positive patients,” Sisodia told reporters during an online briefing.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the DDMA, which is headed by the LG.

However, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the DDMA directions on home isolation were a reaffirmation of the decision taken by home minister Amit Shah at a meeting on June 21.

“Today’s SDMA decision on home isolation of COVID-19 positive patients in Delhi is a reaffirmation of the decision taken at the meeting held by Union Home Minister Shri @AmitShah on 21st June and communicated to Delhi Govt on 22.06.20,” the spokesperson of the MHA said in a tweet.

According to a statement issued by the LG’s office, those who test positive for the coronavirus through the rapid antigen test will be clinically examined by a medical officer at the testing site to assess the severity of the illness. The assessment made by the medical officer on site “shall effectively constitute an assessment made at the COVID Care Centre”.

Those who test positive through the RT-PCR test will be assessed by a home isolation team sent by the district surveillance officer. The team will check the severity of the infection of the patient and whether he is eligible for home isolation.

Home isolation is allowed for the patients with mild symptoms, provided they have a residence of two rooms or a separate room and a separate toilet for the patient.

Sisodia said the earlier system will again be followed in the national capital, where a medical team of the Delhi government will visit a patient’s home, check the symptoms and their severity.

If the medical team finds the symptoms severe or that the patient has comorbidities, it would send him to a hospital. Also, in the absence of a provision or arrangement of home isolation for asymptomatic patients, the medical team will refer such patients to a quarantine centre.

Last week, the LG had made a five-day mandatory institutional quarantine provision for all coronavirus patients, a move that the AAP government had termed arbitrary and one that would hurt Delhi.

After protests, the decision was amended, but the LG made a clinical assessment of all coronavirus patients at a COVID-care centre mandatory. This too was opposed by the AAP government.

“We held discussions with them and requested scrapping of this order. Eventually, they agreed,” Sisodia said.

He said the system, where every coronavirus patient had to visit a COVID-care centre, was adding to people’s woes.

“You do not have to stand in a queue. Home isolation is a good system and over 30,000 people have recovered in home isolation. We should not do away with such a system, because it increases people’s problems,” the deputy chief minister said.

As on Thursday, with 73,780 coronavirus cases, Delhi has surpassed Mumbai to become the worst-hit city in the country by the pandemic.

In a related development, teams are being formed by drawing personnel from various departments to implement the Delhi government’s revised COVID-19 response plan that includes door-to-door surveys for screening coronavirus-infected persons.

Completing the house-to-house screening by July 6, admitting the positive patients in highly population-dense areas to COVID-care centres and CCTV or drone-monitoring to prohibit movement inside the containment zones are among the eight points of the revised COVID-19 response plan issued by the AAP government.

The house-to-house screening will be completed by June 30 in the containment zones and by July 6 for the rest of Delhi, in a mammoth exercise, according to the revised plan.

District-level officials said teams for the exercise are being formed with booth-level officers, civil defence volunteers, anganwadi workers and civic bodies staff among others.

Meanwhile, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a video-call facility for the coronavirus patients admitted at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital here to talk to their loved ones.

LNJP was declared a COVID-19 hospital on March 17 and since then, it has successfully treated 2,700 coronavirus patients and sent them home. It is the only COVID-19 hospital in the country with 2,000 beds, Kejriwal said.