A banquet hall in central Delhi's Daryaganj has been turned into a COVID care centre with the facility linked to the biggest coronavirus-dedicated hospital in the city, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital or LNJP. In a first of sorts, the Shehnai banquet hall is the first facility to be converted into a COVID care centre and will include 100 beds with over 50 health care workers to attend to the patients. With the city seeing a rise in the number of coronavirus cases, it has now been announced that all services at the Shehnai banquet hall COVID care centre will be free of cost for the patients. 

Dr. Ravikant Singh, Founder of the NGO Doctors for You, in a statement said that the services for treatment at the COVID care centre will be free of cost with the expenses to be covered by the NGO. He added saying there will be twelve doctors providing treatment to coronavirus patients at the facility with 24 nurses and 20 ward boys in attendance. Furthermore, an oxygen concentrator has also been mandated for each bed while oxygen cylinders as well have been brought in the event of a requirement for more oxygen. It is to be noted that Mr Singh's NGO has already forged a partnership with the Delhi government in managing the Daryaganj facility to take care of the patients coming in. 

The facility was inaugurated by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday while being accompanied by his deputy Manish Sisodia. Another 80 banquet halls in the city have been planned to be converted into COVID care centers soon, which are expected to include more than 11,000 beds. Delhi’s total number of coronavirus cases has surpassed the 70,000-mark and has gone past Mumbai as the worst-affected city in the country, as per the data released by the Health Ministry. Apart from the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, Delhi is also the second worst-hit state in terms of deaths due to the disease after Maharashtra.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi government announced that all coronavirus patients in the city need not visit a quarantine centre for a medical evaluation after Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had issued an order, which was withdrawn upon strong opposition from Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party.