With Delhi reeling from a fresh spike in Covid-19 cases, the Centre on Sunday announced a slew of steps including making available 300 additional ICU beds, double the number of daily RTPCR tests, and a house-to-house survey in the entire national capital.
The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Shah and attended by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan among others.
It was the second major intervention by Shah since June when he had stepped in and announced several steps to check the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital after criticism in different quarters of the Delhi government”s handling of the crisis.
Sunday’s meeting was convened in the wake of the rising number of cases, which is being called the ”third wave” of Covid-19, in Delhi and it noted the increasing strain on medical infrastructure in the city.
In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah said daily RTPCR tests in Delhi will be doubled and the capacity of the testing laboratories will be enhanced.
दिल्ली के अंदर कोविड-19 के बढ़ते मामलों और यहां मेडिकल इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर की समीक्षा करने के लिए आज एक उच्च स्तरीय बैठक की।
मई 2020 में मोदी सरकार ने दिल्ली की जनता को कोरोना से बचाने के लिए दिल्ली सरकार के साथ विभिन्न कदम उठाये थे जिनके सकारात्मक नतीजे सभी को देखने को मिले थे। pic.twitter.com/iTOW18kATd
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 15, 2020
Here are the highlights from the Union Minister’s announcement:
- Daily RT-PCR tests in Delhi will be doubled, the capacity of the testing laboratories will be enhanced and mobile testing vans of the Union Health Ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will be deployed in the areas where the Covid-19 threat is high.
आज बैठक में विभिन्न निर्देश दिये।
1) सर्वप्रथम दिल्ली में RT-PCR टेस्ट में दो-गुना वृद्धि की जाएगी।
2) दिल्ली में लैबों की क्षमता का अधिक से अधिक उपयोग करके, जहां कोविड होने का खतरा ज़्यादा है, वहां स्वास्थ्य मंत्रालय तथा ICMR की मोबाइल टेस्टिंग वैनों को तैनात किया जाएगा।
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 15, 2020
- Shah said the meeting resolved to enhance the capacity of Delhi”s hospitals and in this direction, 300 ICU beds will be made available at the DRDO COVID hospital (Dhaula Kuan) in addition to the existing 250 ICU beds.
3) दिल्ली में अस्पतालों की क्षमता तथा अन्य मेडिकल इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर की उपलब्धता में वृद्धि की जानी चाहिए।
इसी दिशा में मई में बनाए गये धौला कुआं स्थित DRDO के कोविड अस्पताल में 250 से300 ICU बेड और शामिल किए जाएंगे, जिसे गम्भीर कोविड रोगियों का वहाँ इलाज किया जा सके।
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 15, 2020
- The home minister said to increase the number of oxygen beds, the 10,000-bedded Chhatarpur COVID care center will be strengthened and some of the hospitals of the municipal corporations of Delhi will be converted into dedicated COVID hospitals.
- After the meeting, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, however, said around 750 ICU beds will be arranged at the DRDO center, and daily testing will be scaled up to 1-1.25 lakh in the coming days.
4) ऑक्सीजन की सुविधा वाले बेडों की उपलब्धता बढ़ाने के उद्देश्य से छतरपुर के 10,000बेड वाले कोविड सेंटर को और सशक्त किया जाएगा।
5) MCD के कुछ चिन्हित अस्पतालों को हल्के-फुल्के लक्षण वाले कोविड-19 रोगियों के उपचार के लिए डेडिकेटेड अस्पतालों के रूप में परिवर्तित किया जाएगा।
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 15, 2020
- A home ministry statement said Shah directed the Health Ministry to make arrangements for requisite numbers of BIPAP machines and high flow nasal canulas to the Delhi government within the next two days.
- House-to-house survey in the entire Delhi will be conducted by the teams of AIIMS, Delhi government, and municipal corporations of Delhi, and all the symptomatic persons found in the survey would be tested and provided the necessary treatment.
- The health ministry will issue a standard protocol for plasma therapy and plasma administration for the treatment of Covid-19 patients immediately.
10) गंभीर कोरोना मामलों में प्लाज्मा डोनेशन और प्रभावित व्यक्तियों को प्लाज्मा प्रदान किए जाने के लिए प्रोटोकॉल तैयार करने के निर्देश दिए।
डॉ. वी के पॉल, निदेशक एम्स और महानिदेशक ICMR के नेतृत्व में एक उच्च स्तरीय समिति इसपर जल्द ही रिपोर्ट देगी।
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 15, 2020
- The meeting resolved that the Delhi government and Delhi Police will strictly enforce the necessary measures, especially wearing of face masks, so that there is no laxity in the observance of Covid-19 appropriate behavior
- Accordingly, it is essential to enhance surveillance, strictly enforce containment measures, increase testing, and rapidly build up the requisite medical infrastructure, it said.
8) केंद्रीय सशक्त पुलिस बलों ने कोरोना से लड़ने में देश और दिल्ली की जनता का बहुत सहयोग किया है।
मोदी सरकार ने दिल्ली में स्वास्थ्यकर्मियों की कमी को देखते हुए CAPF से अतिरिक्त डॉक्टर और पैरा मेडिकल स्टाफ देने का निर्णय किया है, उन्हें शीघ्र ही एयरलिफ्ट करके दिल्ली लाया जायेगा।
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 15, 2020
- The government also decided to temporarily shift some testing laboratories from other parts of the country, where they are unutilized, to Delhi.
Shah said that the situation of Covid-19 in Delhi, as also in the neighboring areas of the National Capital Region (NCR), would be reviewed on a continuous basis over the coming weeks.
Kejriwal said there was no discussion in the meeting on possible restrictions in Delhi in view of the rising Covid-19 cases, and added the home ministry will perhaps hold a meeting in this regard on Monday.
Delhi recorded 3,235 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the infection tally to over 4.85 lakh on Sunday, while ninety-five more fatalities pushed the death toll to 7,614.
The meeting was convened to devise a strategy to contain the spread of the virus in Delhi, especially in view of the festive season and decreasing temperatures accompanied by rising pollution, the official said.