With Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday expressing concern over rising coronavirus cases in the national capital, the Delhi government after Diwali is likely to put in place arrangements for crowd control and ensuring Covid-19 appropriate behavior like social distancing and use of face cover.
In a Delhi Diaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting after Diwali, the city government may propose staggered timing of markets and other such measures to prevent crowding, sources said.
Kejriwal in a virtual press briefing said several preventive measures will be taken by the Delhi government and hoped that the surge in Covid-19 cases will subside in the next seven to 10 days.
“Corona (coronavirus cases) is rising. I am worried because of the situation. The Delhi government will take several preventive measures in the coming days to control the situation. I hope in 7-10 days, the number of cases should decline and the situation should come under control,” he said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah next week to follow up on the request for additional beds in the city’s central government-run hospitals amid a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in the national capital, sources said on Saturday.
Apart from more beds, Kejriwal may ask for further assistance, including ensuring cooperation from other states in controlling pollution which is leading to rising in coronavirus cases during the festive season.
“During his meeting with the Union home minister, the chief minister may also discuss steps which need to be taken to arrest the spread of COVID-19 in Delhi,” a source said.
Kejriwal had on Friday said the AAP government was considering initiating several steps next week to arrest the spread of the viral disease in the city.
Earlier this week, he had requested Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to augment the bed capacity in the central government-run hospitals in Delhi, in view of revised projections of up to 15,000 COVID-19 cases per day in the coming weeks.
In a letter to Vardhan last week, Kejriwal had cited a shortfall of around 4,900 beds in hospitals and sought his direction to the hospitals run by the central government in Delhi to provide at least 1,092 additional beds, including 300 ICU beds, with the required medical staff.
Delhi recorded 7,053 fresh Covid-19 cases in a day taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 4.67 lakh on Thursday, while 104 more fatalities in the same period, the highest in over five months, pushed the death toll to 7,332, authorities said. The national capital recorded a positivity rate of 11.71 percent amid the festive season and rising pollution in the city, according to the bulletin issued by the health department on Thursday.
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, the large influx of patients from outside, and festive gatherings.
Since September, daily cases had begun to rise in the city. From the last week of September, it had started to come down a bit. The number of people in home isolation increased to 26,252 on Wednesday from 24,435 the previous day.