Delhi government takes strong measures to control the spread of COVID-19
In the wake of spiralling COVID-19 cases in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has imposed some strict measures across the national capital, to curb the spread of coronavirus. On Thursday, Delhi recorded 7,546 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 5.1 lakh, even as 98 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 8,041, authorities said. These fresh cases came out of the 62,437 tests conducted the previous day, including 22,067 RT-PCR tests, the highest till date.
The positivity rate stood at 12.09 per cent amid the festive season and rising pollution in the city, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.
Here are the measures taken by the Delhi government
- According to a new order by the Delhi government, 42 private hospitals shall reserve 80 per cent of their total ICU bed capacity for COVID-19 patients
- Ninety private hospitals shall reserve 60 per cent of their total beds for treatment of COVID-19 patients
- Doctors across hospitals in Delhi have agreed to expand ICU beds count from existing 50 to 100, Chief Minister Kejriwal told reporters
- The Delhi government has directed all district magistrates to take steps to double the number of testing centres in their respective districts immediately. The Delhi government has significantly ramped up testing in the past few days, with the count on several times crossing the 60,000-mark
- The Delhi government has roped in several teachers of its schools to be part of teams conducting a door-to-door survey for COVID-19 in the national capital
- Teams of AIIMS will conduct surveys in the city. All symptomatic people found in the survey would be tested and provided the necessary treatment. The survey shall be completed within five days and each team shall survey 50 households every day
- The Delhi government has announced Rs 2,000 fine for not wearing masks
- The government will increase the number of RT-PCR test to 27,000 a day in the city
- MBBS students and interns will be engaged to tackle the COVID-19 situation in the national capital
The sudden spike in cases comes amid the festive season and rising pollution level. While Durga Puja celebrations ended on October 25, Diwali fell on Saturday and Chhath is on November 20-21.
The National Centre for Disease Control in a report drafted recently had warned that Delhi needs to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh cases of COVID-19 per day taking into account the upcoming winter season-related respiratory problems, a large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.
According to the Wednesday bulletin, out of the total number of 16,965 beds in COVID hospitals, 7471 are vacant.
