Delhi’s ‘5T’ war against virus

From mass testing to 24x7 tracking, CM spells out his plan

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced a “5T plan” created by his government to contain COVID-19 spread in Delhi. These five Ts are testing, tracing, treatment, teamwork and tracking-monitoring.

“All the nations which remained a step ahead of COVID-19 have managed to control it. I have been in touch with various experts and doctors and we have formulated a five-point plan to deal with the situation in Delhi,” the Chief Minister said.

The first T is testing, which when done on a mas scale enables the actual data of people affected by novel coronavirus. “Like South Korea, we will be testing on a large scale. We have ordered testing for around 50,000 people and rapid testing rounds for 1 lakh people which will begin from Friday,” he said.

Through rapid testing, the government will also be able to identify COVID-19 hotspots and take necessary action, said Mr. Kejriwal.

The second T is tracing, which involves identifying and quarantining people who have come in contact with infected persons. “We are taking the help of police to trace whether the people who have been advised to self-quarantine are actually doing it or not. For this, we have given 27,702 contact numbers to the police through which they are tracing their movement,” he said.

The third component, he said, is treatment. The LNJP and GB Pant hospitals had been declared primary hospitals for COVID-19 treatment with 1,500 and 500 beds respectively, and no other treatments are being carried out there. While the Rajiv Gandhi hospital has 450 beds, 2,450 bedsare available in government hospitals and 450 beds at private ones.

“Serious patients who are suffering from heart diseases and patients above 50 years will be isolated in hospitals and the rest with minor symptoms will be kept in isolation in hotels and dharamshalas,” he said.

The fourth element of the five-point plan i s teamwork and collective efforts are being made to fight the virus. All State governments, he said, must learn from each other and work together.

The fifth T, he said, is tracking and monitoring. “It is my responsibility to ensure that all these measures are in place and all the systems are functioning smoothly. I am tracking and monitoring all these things 24x7,” he said.