Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj held an emergency meeting in the secretariat on Thursday afternoon following a call from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a night before on the back of rising Covid-19 cases in the Capital.
The state government’s health bulletin on March 29 showed 300 new Covid-19 cases in Delhi. The positivity rate stood at 13.89 per cent while two deaths were also reported. The Centre in mid-March had alerted six states — Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Gujarat — in which coronavirus cases showed a rising trend.
Talking about the situation in Delhi, Bhardwaj said: “It has been observed that cases in Delhi start rising two to three weeks after Maharashtra reports rising trend in cases as the pattern in similar in metros which see high number of international flights.”
Briefing reporters after the emergency meeting on Covid-19, the health minister said there was no need to panic and there was no proposal yet to make masks mandatory for citizens. “The positivity rate in Delhi is definitely above 10 per cent. However, the number of tests are low and there is no need for panic in Delhi due to the positivity rate. We have issued an advisory that everyone who has flu-like symptoms should wear masks. Those visiting hospitals should wear masks. We had conducted a mock drill in which we took stock of availability of oxygen cylinders and liquid medical oxygen (LMO),” said Bhardwaj.
At present, all patients reporting flu-like symptoms at hospitals are mandatorily tested for coronavirus and their samples are also sent for genome testing.
“The strains that are reported of the genome testing are not worrying. We are on alert. If on any day and in any place we come across any such symptoms, then we will accelerate our preparedness. As of now, there is no need for patients to be hospitalised or put on ventilators or oxygen support. Less than 10 per cent of oxygen available with the government is being used. We are adequately prepared and closely monitoring the situation,” he said.
Giving out the details of the two deaths reported in the Capital — a 77-year- old at the Northern Railway hospital and a 65-year-old at the Maharaja Agrasen Hospital — Bhardwaj said both were elderly citizens admitted in the ICU on the 26th and 27th respectively with co-morbidities of liver and kidney disease in one case and heart disease in the other. He added that the primary cause of death could not be coronavirus.
“Till date, no cases with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome have been reported and there is no need to panic,” the minister underlined. The number of tests will be increased as ‘per need’, the number of beds in hospitals is ‘adequate’ as the notification issued to private hospitals to reserve beds for patients is still in force and there is no plan on increasing the number of beds as of now, the minister pointed out. He also said that as on date, there is no proposal to make masks mandatory for citizens of Delhi.
Kejriwal is all set to chair another high-level review meeting on Friday where results of the mock drill, and ground situation of Covid-19 in other states will be presented to him. The Thursday meeting chaired by the health minister was attended by Special Secretary Health, Director General of Health Services, virologists, epidemiologists among others.
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