Updated: November 16, 2020 5:29:38 pm
People queue outside a Covid19 test van in New Delhi (Express Photo / Praveen Khanna)
With the capital reeling from a further increase in cases, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain clarified on Monday that there are no plans to reimpose the closure. Emphasizing that the “third wave has passed its peak,” Jain said, quoted by AND ME, “There will be no reimposition of the closure in Delhi. I don’t think it’s an effective step now, everyone’s wearing masks will be more beneficial. “
One of the fastest growing cities in the country, Delhi currently has more than 4 lakh of cases. During the last week, Delhi contributed the maximum number of new cases in the country, surpassing the 8,500 mark per day and registering more than 51,000 cases in the last week. Since Friday, the capital has registered more than 90 deaths a day. The daily bulletin released by the Delhi government in the afternoon recorded 3,235 cases and 95 deaths with a positivity rate of 15.33 percent.
Following the increase, the Minister of the Interior of the Union Amit Shah on Sunday took stock of the COVID-19 situation in Delhi and held a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain and senior central government officials.
To combat the increase in cases, the Center announced a series of measures that include making 300 additional ICU beds available, doubling the number of daily RTPCR tests and a house-to-house survey throughout the national capital. Shah also said that some of the hospitals under the Delhi municipal corporations will be turned into dedicated COVID hospitals.
After the meeting, Kejriwal said tests will go up from an average of around 60,000 a day to 1-1.25 lakh soon. The Center’s intervention was motivated by a strong upturn in cases and the fall in the availability of beds in the national capital, especially in intensive care units. Private hospitals were the first to raise the alarm about the shortage of ICU Covid beds earlier this month. Government hospitals are also falling short. In total, Delhi only has 164 vacant ICU Covid beds.
Sunday’s meeting was called in the wake of the growing number of cases, which is called the ‘third wave’ of COVID-19, in Delhi and pointed to the increasing pressure on the medical infrastructure in the city. It was Shah’s second major intervention since June, when he stepped in and announced several steps to check the number of infections in the capital.
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