Following the continuing surge in COVID-19 cases in the Capital over the last two days, the Delhi government on Friday said that it will give precaution doses for free, subject to the Centre’s nod in this regard.
While assuring citizens that the government had geared up to deal with any eventuality, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “We are keeping a close eye on the rising cases of Coronavirus. Hospital admissions are not increasing, so there is no need to panic. Nothing to worry about as of now.”
Health Minister Satyendar Jain appealed to the people to get vaccinated at the earliest, “Prevention is better than cure. All those who have not yet taken the vaccine or have taken only the first dose, should visit or be takento their nearest health facility as soon as possible for complete vaccination.”
“Even though cases of corona have increased in Delhi, the number of patients admitted to hospitals is still normal. Apart from this, the XE variant has not been included in the list of ‘Variants of Concern’ by the World Health Organization. So there is no need to panic,” the health minister also said.
Surge in cases
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will meet on April 20 to discuss the rise in COVID cases and measures to contain its spread. This comes a day after the Department of Education issued guidelines to keep the infection from spreading at city schools and Education Minister Manish Sisodia said the government was not in favour of shutting schools altogether, while adding that the schools should cordon off the wings where cases were found to have emerged.
The daily COVID-19 cases and positivity rate in the city have seen an upward trend in the last few days. On Friday, the Capital recorded 366 fresh COVID-19 cases and zero death, while the positivity rate rose further to 3.95 per cent, according to the State health bulletin.
On war footing
The Delhi government said it is ready to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and officials have been instructed to keep an eye on the new variant. On the Chief Minister’s orders, about 37,000 Covid beds and 10,594 COVID ICU beds have been readied and the government is working to add 100 oxygen beds in every civic ward within two weeks.
While efforts to resurrect the ‘home isolation’ system are also being made, the Delhi government currently has a capacity of 1,363.73 MT of oxygen, including Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) storage, LMO buffer and pressure swing absorption (PSA) plants.
Apart from ensuring sufficient COVID beds, the government said it is also making certain that there is no shortage of medicines in any situation.
The government said precaution doses of the same vaccine will be given to people, which they have received for their first and second doses. Those who have completed nine months from their second dose are eligible for the precaution doses.
