COVID-19 update: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will convene an emergency meeting today (December 22) amid a sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases in several countries, officials said.
The Delhi government is keeping a watch on the COVID-19 situation and the chief minister has directed the health department to ensure genome sequencing of samples and take other steps needed to meet any eventuality, they said.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia along with other senior officials of the Health Department will also be present in the meeting on Thursday.
"Delhi government is alert. CM Kejriwal has called an emergency meeting regarding coronavirus tomorrow," an official said on Wednesday (December 21).
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Japan, South Korea, Brazil, China and the US, the central government had on Tuesday (December 20) urged all states and Union territories to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive samples to keep track of emerging variants.
In a letter to the states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had said such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures.
Public health challenge of COVID-19 still persists around the world with around 35 lakh cases reported weekly.
Delhi COVID tally:
Delhi logged five COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.19 per cent, according to data shared by the Health department on Wednesday. It also recorded one fatality. With the fresh cases, the national capital's COVID-19 case tally has risen to 2,007,102 while the death toll stands at 26,520.
A total of 2,642 tests were conducted the previous day. Seventeen patients are admitted to hospitals while 19 are in home isolation. The number of active cases in the national capital currently stands at 27.
(With agencies inputs)
ALSO READ: New Covid Wave: How India's situation will be better than China? Ex-AIIMS Director explains
