Beaten projections but can’t be complacent: Delhi CM on Covid-19 situation

“In early June we had projected that by July 15, which is today, the total Covid-19 cases in Delhi would touch 225,000. But, today we actually have only half of the projected cases. There are 115,000 cases, “ chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said Delhi now is in a “much better” Covid-19 situation than what was projected in June, but cautioned that there is no room for complacency.

A view inside the CWG Stadium Covid Care Centre as patients watch a mythological programme on the screen in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

“Based on the formula given by the Central government, in early June we had projected that by July 15, which is today, the total Covid-19 cases in Delhi would touch 225,000. But, today we actually have only half of the projected cases. There are 115,000 cases. It was expected that there would be 134,000 active cases by July 15, but till date, there are only 18,600 active cases in the city. Accordingly, it was projected that 34,000 beds would be needed by now, but currently, only around 4,000 beds are occupied,” Kejriwal said addressing a digital press conference.

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Kejriwal said the “Delhi model”, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked other states to follow, has helped reduce both cases and deaths. The chief minister added that the favourable results in Covid-19 management in the Capital would not have been possible without the help of the Centre, the hotels, NGOs, religious institutions and other stakeholders.

On Wednesday, Delhi recorded 1,647 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the city to 116,993, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 3,487.

Kejriwal reiterated that Delhi now has sufficient beds. There are more than 15,000 beds in Covid-19 care facilities. “On June 1, we had only 300 ICU beds, but today, we have 2,100 ICU beds out of which 1,000 have so far been occupied. We are in a better situation today, as compared to June, but it does not mean we have won the war (against Covid-19). We have yet to go a long way. There may be a spike again in Covid-19 cases. We don’t have to be complacent. We will not sit idle. We will have to be fully prepared,” he said.

The chief minister said the Delhi government worked on three principles after realising that the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic cannot be won alone.

Explaining the Delhi model, he said the biggest strength in the city’s efforts against Covdi-19 has been “collectivity” or “teamwork”.

“If the Delhi government had thought it would win the fight against coronavirus alone, we would have failed. Our first principle was that this fight cannot be won alone.

“Our second principle was that we did not criticise our critics for their views about our work. We improved things after somebody flagged it. The third principle was that we did not accept defeat. Had we accepted defeat, there would have been a surge in the numbers of deaths,” he said.

According to Kejriwal, the government scaled up testing for Covid-19 aggressively and daily 20,000 to 23,000 tests are being conducted in Delhi. “The Covid-19 situation is under control, but we will continue our preparations against the virus,” he said.

Lauding his government’s home-isolation policy, he said people are coming forward in large numbers to undergo tests because they are no longer scared that they will have to go a Covid centre.

“Ambulances were also increased. Now no call for an ambulance is being declined. Earlier a patient had to wait for 2-3 hours in the ambulance to finish the formalities in the hospital. To solve this, we created a holding area in every hospital where the patient can be given oxygen, while the formalities of hospital admission are completed,” he said.