The city Government must heed warnings and ensure that no life is lost due to systemic failures or misplaced priorities

The second wave of Covid-19 caught Delhi completely unawares and exposed the fault lines in the capital's healthcare infrastructure. It is well known that Covid-19 treatment requires oxygen. Yet, Delhi did not have any plan of action when it came to managing it. We were completely dependent on oxygen supply from other states. The Union government continued to increase Delhi's quota of oxygen. The Delhi government, on the other hand, was accusing the Centre of not doing enough.  For days, oxygen mismanagement caused heavy losses. There were casualties, due to oxygen shortage, reported in Jaipur Golden Hospital and Batra Hospital, who complained of an unresponsive administration on the ground.

During the Court proceedings, the Delhi government was reprimanded for being unable to get its act right. The Delhi High Court told the government to put its house in order or let Centre take over. Even after Centre's upward revision of Delhi's quota of oxygen, the Delhi government did not have enough tankers to lift the oxygen and supply it to hospitals. Later, it was revealed that Delhi does not have storage facilities to store oxygen that was supplied by the Centre and was forced to return the excess oxygen.

 It is predicted that the third wave might be more alarming than the current wave and impact our children more. Therefore, it is imperative that we begin preparing for the third wave from day one. Till now, preparations initiated by the Delhi government seem inadequate and unsatisfactory. Delhi needs to move in the direction of becoming self-reliant in oxygen production. In order to accomplish this, I have written to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to make following policy interventions:

• Fast track installation of PSA oxygen generation plants from the PM Cares Fund in Delhi
• Provide subsidy and simplify process to encourage industry to set up oxygen plants in Delhi
• Relax norms for private nursing homes who are 100% dependent on oxygen cylinders to set up storage units (oxygen tanks) within premises
• Mandate installation of oxygen plants in all government hospitals and incentivise private hospitals to install oxygen plants within premises

 Besides oxygen, it is critical to ramp up Delhi's healthcare infrastructure. Delhi's 'unique healthcare model' turned out to be an empty boast when the tragedy struck. The much-publicized Mohalla clinics could not be used to treat even one patient infected with Covid-19. In fact, many of these were seen submerged in piles of garbage or lay abandoned like a haunted house.

The people of Delhi deserve to be treated and not left to die. Therefore, the Delhi government needs to move beyond making cosmetic changes and doing photo-ops.  The need of the hour is to operationalise hospitals that are non-functional. Build more isolation centres as well as identify already existing infrastructure such as mohalla clinics, community centres, schools and so on that could be turned into isolation centres and equipped with oxygen cylinders and concentrators.

Apart from physical infrastructure, our medical staff also needs to be expanded to reduce the burden on existing workforce. The current wave has taken a serious toll on the physical and mental health of medical professionals and supporting staff. We must support them by filling up vacancies of medical professionals and supporting staff in Category B, C and D and train them on Covid management at a large scale.

For children, special preparations need to be made to ensure that they receive timely care. Special pediatric wards equipped with oxygen supply should be made mandatory in every hospital. Tie-up with Central agencies on specialized treatment for children to keep the administration updated on any advancements in this regard.

To minimize the impact of future waves, vaccination needs to be undertaken on a mission mode. It is important to keep politics aside and start the process of placing orders with vaccine manufacturers. Though the Centre is already delivering vaccines free of cost to Delhi for people above 45 years of age, it is in the purview of states to procure more vaccines as per the needs from vaccine makers in India and abroad, subject to approvals.

This is the time to act and ensure that no life is lost due to systemic failures and misplaced priorities of the Delhi government.

The author is Member of Legislative Assembly, Delhi, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party from Rohini. The views expressed are personal.