Govt prepared for rise in cases, says Sisodia after DDMA meet

According to officials, all passengers arriving in Delhi from ‘at-risk’ countries will need to take an RT-PCR test when they arrive at the airport and will have to quarantine at home for at least eight days even if their samples return negative.

Amid fears posed by a new variant of the coronavirus, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the state was prepared to tackle any rise in Covid-19 infections, after a meeting of the state disaster management authority.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia (File Photo/PTI)

All passengers arriving in Delhi from “at-risk” countries, including all of Europe, will need to take an RT-PCR test when they arrive at the airport and will have to quarantine at home for at least eight days even if their samples return negative, senior state officials said.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting was chaired by Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal.

The state health department was directed to ensure adequate availability of beds, medicines and oxygen to tackle any exigencies.

“There is uncertainty over the spread and impact of the new coronavirus variant in the world, but the Union government has stressed that there will be no negligence in preparations and the situation will be monitored. The Delhi government is ready to deal with the situation in case Covid cases rise in the city,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told reporters after the meeting.

Baijal’s office said every positive sample will be sent for genome sequencing checks.

“It was decided to conduct 100% RT-PCR testing of passengers from high-risk countries, followed by genome sequencing of the positive cases and mandatory isolation/quarantine as per the guidelines laid down by the Government of India,” Baijal’s office said in a statement after the meeting.

At the same time, the Delhi government was directed to start arranging for institutional quarantine centres where passengers who test positive will be sent.

Officials said district magistrates began arranging such facilities at hospitals and hotels, in coordination with the state health department. Contacts of positive travellers will also be kept under strict surveillance, said officials aware of the matter.

The countries assigned at risk by the government are - South Africa, China, the United Kingdom, European countries, Bangladesh, Brazil, Botswana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Singapore and Israel.

Every passenger arriving in Delhi from these countries will have to mention their destination address in detail, including the district and lane, a senior official present in the DDMA meeting said on condition of anonymity.

Monday’s high-level meeting was also attended by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who is the DDMA vice-chair.

On Sunday, one international traveller tested positive for Covid-19. The person’s samples have been sent for sequencing to the National Centre for Disease Control, which sequences the highest number of genomes from Delhi. The man, who arrived from Germany, has been admitted to Medanta hospital.