Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in the national capital, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a review meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, and members of the SDMA on Sunday, 14 June.
After the meeting, Shah announced a slew of measures including the doubling of tests, rigorous contact tracing and updated guidelines for funerals. Shah said the Modi government will provide 500 railway coaches to Delhi to overcome the shortage of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.
Tweeting out the measures discussed, Shah stated:
- Modi government will provide 500 railway coaches to Delhi in view of shortage of beds for COVID-19 patients.
- Comprehensive house-to-house health survey will be done in Delhi containment zones for COVID-19 contact tracing. The report will come in one week. Everyone will be made to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobiles
- To provide correct information and guidelines for COVID-19 to small hospitals in Delhi, the Modi government has decided to constitute a committee of senior doctors for telephonic guidance in AIIMS. The helpline number will be released tomorrow (15 June)
- COVID-19 tests in Delhi will be doubled in next two days and increased by three times after 6 days
- COVID-19 tests will be started at every polling station in Delhi containment zones in a few days
- For the treatment of COVID-19 in private hospitals in Delhi, a committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Dr Paul to provide 60 percent of the COVID beds in private hospitals at a low rate
Meanwhile, Shah also ordered the transfer of 4 IAS officers from Arunachal Pradesh to Delhi to assist in the COVID-19 fight. The MHA also announced the attachment of two officers from the Centre to Delhi government.
‘Extremely Productive Meeting Between Delhi Govt and Centre’: CM Kejriwal
After the meeting, CM Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Extremely productive meeting between Delhi govt and Centre, many key decisions taken; will fight against COVID-19 together.”
Shah is also scheduled to hold another meeting with the mayors of the municipal corporations of Delhi at 5 pm. Both, Kejriwal and Baijal, will be present for this meeting too.
The meeting comes at a time when the total number of cases in Delhi have crossed 36,000 with over 1,200 deaths, and people on social media have raised concerns about testing and hospitalisation.
The Supreme Court, too, came down heavily on the Delhi government on Friday and said that the patients were being treated “worse than animals”.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Kejriwal had met Shah to discuss the continuous spike in the national capital cases. As per the projections, the number of cases in Delhi are expected to go up to one lac by the end of June, 2.5 lakh by 15 July and over 5 lakh cases by the end of July.
Delhi is the third worst hit state after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu by coronavirus which has claimed over 8,000 lives in India alone.
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