Covid-19: Schools won’t open till govt sure about safety, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday that Delhi government would not open schools unless it was convinced about the safety of students. At the Independence Day function organised at Delhi Secretariat, Kejriwal said the Covid situation was under control and thanked all, including the Centre, corona warriors and different agencies and people, for together making it possible.
From next week, the government will start sending oxygen concentrators to homes of the patients whose oxygen levels drop to lower levels even after recovery, Kejriwal announced. From next month, the AAP government will launch a two-and-a-half-month campaign against dengue.
Kejriwal devoted the large part of his 22 minutes speech to Covid fight and the ‘Delhi model’ besides revival of economy and hailed corona warriors who helped people during the pandemic by risking their lives. Seven corona warriors representing their community were present at the function, which was shifted to the Secretariat from Chhatrasal Stadium in view of the current situation. The CM also remembered soldiers who lost their lives on the borders while protecting the country.
“In June, many people were leaving Delhi because of coronavirus spread and many were afraid of coming to Delhi. But in a few weeks, two crore people of Delhi have controlled the situation with their resolve, hard work and dedication. We have a long way to go, we have not won the battle but we are in a much better position now,” Kejriwal said adding the Delhi model is now being discussed all over the country, and has become a case study across the world.
Kejriwal said the capital fought Covid-19 with a scientific approach and came up with various new initiatives.
“We have come across some recovered patients who lost their lives at home because their oxygen levels dropped even after being Covid negative. We will send oxygen concentrators to the homes of such patients,” Kejriwal said adding that the home isolation model of the government helped reserve a lot of beds for serious patients and many beds got vacant because of it. “In many states, people are not getting tested because they do not want to be sent to quarantine centres for 14 days,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal said Delhi government is the only government to provide an assistance of Rs 1 crore on the death of a corona warrior. “This gave the corona warriors assurance that there is a government that takes care of them,” Kejriwal added.
“Delhi was the first state where plasma trials began and a plasma bank was created. More than 750 patients have received plasma and their lives have been saved,” he said further.
The CM said the government has taken steps like opening a job portal and reducing VAT on diesel to get the economy back on track. “Despite the revenue of Delhi getting drastically reduced, we did not let our subsidy get affected during the crisis. The subsidies will continue even in the coming days,” Kejriwal added.
Over opening of schools, Kejriwal said: “I want to assure parents that we care about your children as much as you do. Unless fully convinced, we are not going to open the schools. The safety and health of your children are very important to us.”