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After a brief period of decline in Covid-19 cases, Delhi is once again witnessing rise in Covid-19 cases and due to this the Arvind Kejriwal Government has said that it is gearing up to deal with the situation and has asked all hospitals to be on alert.
This development comes at a time when Delhi recorded 366 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours with a positivity rate of nearly four per cent (3.95%). The national capital has been witnessing an uptick in coronavirus cases over the last few days. With this, Delhi's Covid-19 tally has increased to 18,67,572. The death count is at 26,158 with no deaths in a day.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said, "the Delhi Government is closely monitoring the situation and the government does not want to take any risk. We have completely overhauled our health infrastructure. Along with this, all hospitals have been advised to remain alert amidst increasing cases of Covid-19 in Delhi."
"To prevent the spread of Coronavirus, the Delhi Government is doing contact tracing of Coronavirus-infected patients. At the same time, RT-PCR testing will also be increased if needed. The Government is working on the principle of testing, tracing and treatment. Precaution doses of various vaccines will soon be provided free of cost to people in government hospitals by the Delhi government," he added.
Satyendar Jain also appealed to the people to get vaccinated at the earliest and said, ''Prevention is better than cure. All those who have not yet taken the vaccine or have taken only the first dose, should be taken to their nearest health facility as soon as possible for complete vaccination."
He said, "Even though cases of COVID-19 have increased in Delhi, the number of patients admitted to hospitals is still normal. Apart from this, the XE variant has not been included in the list of 'Variants of Concern' by the World Health Organization. So there is no need to panic. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will meet on April 20 to discuss the rise in Corona cases and measures to contain the spread of the epidemic. In this future strategies will be discussed."
It has been informed by the Delhi Government that ''On the orders of the Chief Minister, about 37,000 COVID-19 dedicated beds and 10,594 COVID-ICU beds have been prepared in the national capital. If the infection spreads, the government has planned to increase 100 oxygen beds in every ward of Delhi within two weeks. In such a situation, the Delhi government plans to prepare 65,000 beds, so that no person has to face shortage of beds in an emergency situation. If the cases increase again, the home isolation system will be implemented.''
According to the government, ''At present, the Delhi government has a capacity of 1363.73 MT of oxygen, including Liquid Medical Oxygen Storage (LMO), Liquid Medical Oxygen Buffer, and PSA Plant. At the same time, the medical institution has the capacity of oxygen cylinders of up to 217 metric tonnes. Apart from this, 6,000 D type cylinders have been kept in reserve for use in an emergency.''
''Apart from the facility of COVID beds, the Delhi government is also emphasizing the availability of medicines in sufficient quantities, to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines in any situation. The Government is also emphasizing on increasing manpower for COVID-19 management, so that if the rate of infection accelerates, there is no shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff. At the same time, a Covid helpline number- 1031 has been issued to help the corona infected during any problem. This helpline is available 24 hours a day to assist the people.''
(With inputs from agencies)