The Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital, the mainstay of the city's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, now has "zero patient" admitted at the facility, the first time since March 2020, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday. The first case of COVID-19 in Delhi was reported in March 2020 and since then the LNJP Hospital, the largest facility of the city government has been at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic in the national capital, having treated domestic patients as well as those from foreign countries in three successive waves, the last being fuelled by the Omicron variant.

"All the COVID-19 patients of the third wave have been successfully treated and discharged from LNJP Hospital. For the first time since March 2020, zero patient of COVID-19 are admitted in the hospital. Salute to the entire medical fraternity for their dedicated service," Jain tweeted. The British-era hospital located in central Delhi has 2,000 beds and was the first to be turned into a coronavirus facility soon after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in early March.

Medical Director, LNJP Hospital, Dr Suresh Kumar attributed this milestone to the "team work and spirit of dedication shown by all the doctor, nurses, other healthcare workers" who helped in the "successful management" of the pandemic over these years. "We have treated domestic patients from Delhi and elsewhere, as well as those who were brought to our facility during the second and third wave of the pandemic, which were fuelled by the Delta and the Omicron variants respectively. And, now we have not a single admitted patient at our hospital, first time in two years," he told PTI.

During the second wave, COVID-19 patients from the UK were treated while during the third wave, many from South Africa and other countries received treatment at the facility. During the second brutal wave, scenes of distressed family members seeking a bed at hospitals had become a common sight. The LNJP Hospital also was heavily burdened, but doctors still tried to lend whatever medical support they could to such patients who could not get a bed, to lend them a chance for survival. ? ?

"We learned a lot from the first wave's experiences, and we had started implementing those in the Covid management during the second wave. We made the system centralised and oxygen line was brought straight to beds, which helped save lives," Kumar said. The medical director, who along with many of his colleagues had also got infected with the coronavirus, heaped praises on fellow doctors and other healthcare workers for standing in the vanguard of the fight against the pandemic of the century, the worst since the Spanish Flu.

The number of daily cases in Delhi has been on the decline after touching a record high of 28,867 on January 13. Delhi reported 144 COVID-19 cases and one fatality, while the positivity rate stood at 0.39 per cent. This came out of the 36,625 samples tested on Tuesday. The national capital’s case count stands at present at 18,63,345, while the death toll stood at 26,144, as per data shared by the city health department. There are 10,316 beds for COVID-19 patients in Delhi hospitals and only 91 of them are occupied, the health department said in a bulletin issued early Thursday morning.

The LNJP Hospital's medical director exhorted everyone to get vaccinated and have children in 12-14 age group also get doses to protect them for any future situation. "Though COVID-19 cases are on the decline here and over 1.75 crore does been administered, we should not lower our guard, and wear mask in public place and follow all Covid-appropriate behaviours," Kumar said.

With PTI Inputs