Delhi news live: 1,072 more Covid beds in city as infections surge

Fire breaks out at some shops in Pitampura vegetable market. Eight fire tenders are present at the spot

Delhi's Tiz Hazari Court to hear the bail plea of January 26 violence accused Deep Sidhu on April 8.

The district administration on Wednesday increased the number of containment zones from 21 to 27. The last containment order had been issued on February 25. Badshapur and Chanderlok have the highest number of containment zones, at nine and six, respectively. Areas in the new sectors have also been sealed. The new containment zones include floors in Raheja Navodya and Park View Sanskruti in Sector 92; and houses 580 to 1950 in Sushant Lok-1 block C and 1301 to 1310 near Galleria Market in DLF-4.

As many as eight people who returned to the city from Maharashtra and Kerala tested positive for Covid-19 at Ghaziabad railway station on Wednesday. Officials said the patients are under home isolation at present and the health department is keeping a close watch on their condition. So far, over 1,300 people have been screened at the railway station, where two Covid testing teams have been deputed at two exit points to test people coming from Maharashtra and Kerala, which is mandatory.

The last rites of 49-year-old Samay Lal Yadav, who passed away an hour and 15 minutes after taking his first dose of Covishield, were conducted at Hinauti village in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, on Wednesday. “We got his body on Tuesday afternoon after post-mortem and left for our village around 6.45 pm. We reached Hinauti at 11 pm. Since Wednesday early morning, several friends, relatives and neighbours have visited us,” said Dhruv, Yadav’s nephew.

In the past few weeks, five people, who had taken Covid vaccines, tested positive from the district. While three are admitted to Sharda Hospital, one was discharged from Yatharth recently and another patient is being treated at the facility. According to Dr Ajit Kumar, spokesperson, Sharda Hospital, one patient is 72. He has comorbidities and tested positive a week after taking the first dose on March 25.

Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday alleged that the home delivery of ration scheme had been stalled by BJP only to harass the poor. Calling BJP an anti-poor party, Bharadwaj in a press conference stressed that despite Delhi government providing dry rations to North Delhi Municipal Corporation, it was only distributed to students in one school of the civic body. On March19, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, north corporation mayor Jai Prakash and other political functionaries had inaugurated the scheme.

South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday approved a proposal to double surface parking rates to ensure full utilisation of the recently inaugurated automated tower parking near Green Park Metro station. The move is expected to end congestion around Yusuf Sarai Market on Aurbindo Marg. At present, surface parking rates are Rs 20 per hour, the same as automated tower parking. After being approved in the standing committee meeting, the proposal will be tabled in house for final approval. The decision to was taken after a team of traffic inspectors and SDMC officials surveyed Aurbindo Road and found that not even 40% of the automatic parking was being utilised.

The fear of theft, drugs and mosquitoes has been forcing several homeless to avoid night shelters and sleep on the pavements. The in-charge of the night shelter near Nigambodh Ghat where an accident took place on Wednesday morning said they accommodate about 80 people every night, but many prefer sleeping outside due to the heat. Deepak Pandit, a native of Varanasi living at the night shelter for the last three years, said those who do drugs avoid coming there and smoke and drink outside. “We get food twice a day at the shelter,” he added.

With the new academic session for schools set to begin, a certain confusion regarding offline classes for students promoted to classes X and XII is bothering many. While some private schools have decided that classes would continue in the online mode due to the rise in the number of fresh Covid cases, other schools have called in students for offline classes.

A month after recording its second-warmest February in 120 years, the capital endured its warmest March since 2010. The mean maximum temperature was at 33.1°C — 3.5°C above normal; the figure was at 34.1°C 11 years ago, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Despite as many as five western disturbances and a bit of rain last month, its latter half saw the mercury rise sharply, crossing 41°C in many parts of the city this Monday — the warmest March day since 1945.

Private hospitals on Wednesday received permission from the Haryana health department to set up Covid-19 vaccination camps on office premises from April1, a shot in the arm for hundreds of Indian and global companies headquartered in the city that can get eligible employees inoculated against the virus. Vaccination camps on office premises were proposed by the Gurgaon health department at the district task force meeting last week. On Thursday, Medanta will hold a session site at the Industrial Association building in Sector 37, where it aims to inoculate 200 recipients. From April 5, other private hospitals like Max, Artemis and Fortis will also begin similar drives. While Artemis will set up camps at the Apollo Tyres office on Monday, Fortis will conduct the drive on Tuesday for Panasonic, Jindal Steel, Coforge, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters.

From Thursday, everyone aged above 45 will be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine at 500 vaccination centres spread across 192 hospitals in the city. Advance booking on the Co-Win portal has already started and the government expects a huge jump in turnout. Increasing the coverage will also strengthen the fight against the novel coronavirus, which is crucial due to the recent surge in cases. Health minister Satyendar Jain said, “Vaccination is being started on a large scale from Thursday. Those eligible can get the shots from 9am till 9pm. Delhi has a large number of people aged above 45. The government wants to cover all of them as soon as possible. Delhi has a sufficient stock of the vaccine. Some hospitals even have 10 vaccination centres.”

Delhi has got an additional 1,072 Covid beds, including 230 ICU beds and 842 normal Covid beds, in the wake of a surge in Covid cases. The beds have been added in 33 private hospitals after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal reviewed the situation. Only 25% of the existing beds are currently occupied but the government has made advance arrangements because Delhi also receives patients from outside. Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and other big states are also reporting a surge in Covid cases. In reaction to a question, health minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday said that the decision on whether those coming from states with a heavy Covid caseload would require a Covid negative report to come to Delhi, was still being discussed. There is no clarity on whether the government is planning to make negative Covid report mandatory for entering Delhi. Currently, random Covid tests are being done at the airport, bus terminals and railway stations to test those coming from states reporting a surge in Covid cases.

Based on the latest guidelines issued by Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), domestic passengers arriving from high-risk states at Indira Gandhi International Airport will be randomly tested for Covid-19. “After collection of the samples, the passengers will be allowed to exit. However, those found positive shall be mandatorily quarantined either at their place of stay, a government facility or at a hospital, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare protocol,” said the Delhi airport in a statement.

Early trends suggest that the novel coronavirs is affecting youth and children in larger numbers this time compared with the previous peak reported in Delhi in August and November last year. The morbidity and mortality due to infection, however, continue to be higher among the elderly and those with pre-existing comorbidities. “Younger people are going out a lot. They feel even if they are infected, it will only cause mild symptoms,” said Dr Randeep Guleria, director, AIIMS. He added that it was important to realise that the youngsters could become super-spreaders if they do not follow Covid-appropriate behaviour while going out, and eventually lead to more cases among the high-risk groups.