30% of COVID-19 patients in Delhi hospitals from other states: Satyendar Jain

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain also said that non-residents of Delhi have been occupying most of the ICU beds in private hospitals.

PTI

September 21, 2020 / 15:20 IST

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said 30 percent of the COVID-19 patients admitted to Delhi hospitals are from other states.

He also said that non-residents of Delhi have been occupying most of the ICU beds in private hospitals.

"People coming from outside prefer private hospitals. They make up their mind in advance. These patients go directly to these four-five hospitals they have heard of… such as Max, Apollo and Fortis. That’s why ICU beds at these hospitals are full,” Jain told reporters.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic

Most of these patients are those who seek ICU facility. There are 1,500 such patients undergoing treatment in Delhi, he said.

The minister also disclosed that the authorities have been collecting data of non-resident patients separately.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show