Testing rate in Delhi will be doubled, goal is to bring down deaths to zero: Kejriwal
Addressing a digital press conference on Wednesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the state government will double the testing rate in Delhi in the coming days. He said that Delhi has seen a marginal rise in the number of cases in the last few days, though other parameters are in control. The chief minister said that currently, 20,000 tests are being done in Delhi on daily basis which will be increased to 40,000.
Kejriwal said people of Delhi have become confident which is a good sign for economic and social activities in Delhi, but it should not lead to complacency. He said there have been no deaths among the patients recovering through the home isolation model of the Delhi government after July 14.
Kejriwal said: “The situation of Corona in Delhi is under control for the last one and a half months. There is a decline in the number or Corona positive cases and deaths, and the recovery rate has considerably improved. But, since the last few days, there has been a rise in the number of Corona cases. After August 17, the number of daily Corona cases is around 1200-1500. The cases had gone down to 1000 and less than 1000 a few days back, but have now increased up to 1200-1400. The report that was published yesterday, which means that the number of cases in Delhi which came up on Monday was 1544. The report that will be published today would be 1693 cases, which is the number of cases that came up yesterday in Delhi. There has been an increase in the number of Corona cases in Delhi. The rest parameters are fine, and so we cannot say that the intensity of Corona is increasing. The recovery rate in Delhi is more than 90%, and the death rate is decreasing consistently.”
Kejriwal said the death rate in Delhi in August is 1.4%, which is the most better in the country. There was a time when the death count was more than 100, but now the death count on every day basis is less than 20, and even less than 10 on specific days. We are also making efforts so that the death count goes down to zero.
Around 3700 beds were occupied in Delhi till today morning, out of which 2900 beds have been occupied by the residents of Delhi and around 800 beds have been occupied by non-residents. The number of Corona patients in Delhi who need hospitalization is also stable.
Reiterating that Delhi is fully prepared to handle the crisis, Kejriwal said: “We have 14130 beds in the hospitals, out of which 10448 beds remain vacant. There are sufficient number of ambulances with the Delhi government. Considering a rise in the number of cases in Delhi, a meeting was held today and I have directed the officials to increase the number of tests in Delhi. The reason that we were able to control the situation of Corona in Delhi was that we had increased the number of tests, and now we will double the rate of testing in Delhi. Around 20,000 tests are conducted in Delhi today, which will now be increased to 40,000 tests in one week. Our strategy of test and isolate will remain the same. Corona patients will be aggressively marked and isolated after they test positive.”
Kejriwal said a new trend has been noticed that when the patients of corona recover and come back to their homes, the symptoms of Corona still remain. They still suffer from lower oxygen levels and breathing issues. “A few patients have also lost their lives because of lowering oxygen levels. Our Health Minister Satyendar Jain, had recovered from corona but took few days to fully recover and get back to his normal situation. Hence, the government has decided that all the patients who have recovered will be supplied oximeters for few more days. If their oxygen levels continue to remain low, oxygen concentrators will also be installed at their homes for free so that they do not need to visit the hospitals,” said the CM.
Kejriwal said the home Isolation model of the Delhi government has been successful, and after July 14, there has been no death of patients in home isolation. He said: “We have also instructed that the enforcement must also be made stricter. I want to request everybody to wear masks and practice social distancing. I am happy that the confidence of the people of Delhi has increased in the last few days, which is very important for our social and economic activity. But there should be no complacency because of this confidence.”
“We have controlled the corona situation in Delhi after a lot of effort and struggle, and we should not let the corona rate increase. If you fail to wear mask and do social distancing, it will be equally harmful to you and for others around you,” added the CM.
Kejriwal warned the people against complacency and said more and more people should get themselves tested if they observe Corona symptoms.
He said: “Due to this overconfidence, some people think they will recover even after they have symptoms. They do not realize that if they do not get tested in time, they end up infecting many people around them eventually. People can avail of testing in free in any government hospital or government dispensaries. We are getting cases where 7-8 people from one family are getting infected, and this is because a single infected person did not get tested for many days even after having symptoms and infected other people. Please get yourself tested, wear masks, and practice social distancing.”
