Delhi Covid lockdown news live: City reports 3,009 new cases, 252 deaths

The lockdown in the capital has hit the poor the hardest, especially when it comes to food. Fair price shops remain their key hope amid the economic distress triggered by Covid-19, but activists claim many of these shops are either closed or not distributing foodgrains and other items. According to the data provided by activists, 72.7 lakh people or 37% of Delhi’s population have ration cards under the public distribution system (PDS) of National Food Security Act (NFSA). Delhi government recently announced that besides them, anybody being unable to buy foodgrains will be given ration kits for free for this month. The Centre, under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, has announced an extra five kg foodgrain for free per beneficiary.

Delhi Disaster Management Authority had earlier ordered that people arriving from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana by air, train or road will have to quarantine themselves for 14 days in a centre or seven days in home isolation if they are carrying a negative RT-PCR test report. Now, DDMA has allowed people arriving from these states via road and destined to another state to continue their journey without disembarking from the vehicle.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said there are 197 cases of black fungus in government and private hospitals till date in the national capital. Read more

The city continues to face shortage of Covid-19 vaccines. It has at present stocks for one more day. This means if Gurugram doesn’t receive any fresh consignment, government facilities in Gurugram may not be inoculating anyone this weekend. Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a virtual meeting with the chief ministers of 11 states and district magistrates of more than 60 districts of the country to review the Covid-19 preparedness. The steps taken by the Gurugram administration for Covid-19 testing and vaccination campaign were lauded at the meeting. Read more

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said he will discuss with Lt Governor Anil Baijal the coronavirus situation in the city, including the possibility of easing lockdown restrictions, on the weekend. According to Delhi government's health bulletin on Thursday, the number of positive cases in the national capital have declined to 3,231 and the positivity rate is now 5.5 per cent.

The Delhi government and the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) on Friday assured the Delhi high court that if there is another surge in coronavirus infections, the number of beds in the institute's Covid facility for patients suffering from neurological problems would be increased. The assurance was given after Justice Rekha Palli said if a third wave comes, "as feared by everyone", then the number of beds should be increased from the existing 60 without patients having to come to court seeking hospitalisation. The Delhi government, represented by its additional standing counsel Gautam Narayan and IHBAS, represented by advocate Tushar Sannu, said in case of a surge, the number of beds would be increased from the existing number of 60 to 80.

When Manish Srivastava and his wife Preeti were in home-isolation, they learnt that their sister-in-law Mamta (45) too tested positive for Covid-19. “Her oxygen level suddenly dropped to 89 and she needed an oxygen concentrator at home. We cannot afford to purchase one from the market. After we came to know about the oxygen concentrator banks set up by the Delhi government, we contacted the 1031 helpline number and received the concentrator on Tuesday,” said Srivastava. Read more

Flagging vaccine shortage, AAP MLA Atishi on Thursday said Delhi has only two days’ stock of Covaxin, and nine days of Covishield left for the 45+ age group and stressed that without the supply being replenished, the group might not be able to get Covaxin after two days. In a press conference, the MLA said Delhi has less than a day’s stock of Covishield left for the 18-44 age group and more than 140 sites of the vaccination centres in city will be shut beginning Friday due to lack of doses. She added that in the current Covid wave, many young people are getting affected, and requested the Centre to immediately send Delhi the required amount of vaccines.

Delhi government is now regulating the sale of Amphotericin B, a drug used to treat black fungus, to prevent hoarding. But city hospitals are struggling to procure the suddenly in-demand drug. Read more

The Centre should “scout the globe” to import a key drug required to treat black fungus, Delhi High Court said on Thursday. Read more

As many as 150 GPS-based ventilator beds from the PM Cares Trust Fund were added to the Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre (SPCCC), Radha Soami Beas at Chhatarpur in Delhi, informed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Thursday. It further stated that 500 oxygen beds are already functional at the facility for providing critical care to COVID-19 patients.