Covid-19: Delhi L-G Anil Baijal calls for continued testing even as daily cases dip below 1,000

The L-G was also informed that district officials in Delhi have surveyed over 17.2 million residents so far for Covid-19 symptoms to assess the spread of the infection.

Chairing a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), lieutenant governor (L-G) Anil Baijal on Monday directed the city administration to continue with the increased testing and aggressive contact tracing, even as the daily number of fresh cases of came down to 803 — the first time in 126 days that the count has dipped below 1,000 — on Monday.

A health worker in PPE collects a swab sample from a traveller at Anand Vihar ISBT during coronavirus screening, in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, December 20, 2020. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The number of active cases also dropped below 10,000 for the first time in 138 days, since 9,897 infections were reported on August 4. As many as 62,440 tests were conducted on Sunday, as reported on Monday, in comparison to the average of 82,490 tests a day over the last week. With the government scaling up testing since December beginning, the positivity rate in Delhi has remained below 2% for seven consecutive days and below 5% for 19 days, as per the data shared by the Delhi government.

The positivity rate stood at 1.29% on Monday. The city also reported 27 more deaths due to the viral infection, taking the total toll to 10,304. The L-G was also informed that district officials in Delhi have surveyed over 17.2 million residents so far for Covid-19 symptoms to assess the spread of the infection. Of the total, over 39,500 had cough, fever and other indicators of the viral disease.

The L-G, who is the chairperson of DDMA, also reviewed the city’s vaccination plan, which the Delhi government is preparing as per directions from the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW). The L-G was informed that district officials in Delhi have surveyed over 17.2 million residents so far for Covid-19 symptoms to assess the spread of the infection. Of the total, over 39,500 had cough, fever and other indicators of the viral disease.

“Reviewed the preparedness for the roll out of Covid-19 vaccination in Delhi and advised the officials to work in close coordination with the Union @MoHFW_INDIA in this regard,” Baijal said in a tweet.

“Appreciated the exemplary effort put in by all the stakeholders in effective management of #Covid19 while stressing the need for continued and sustained efforts towards higher testing, aggressive contact tracing and strict compliance of Covid appropriate behaviour especially in view of the existing weather conditions,” the L-G said in another tweet.

A senior government official, who attended the meeting, said that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is the vice-chairperson of the DDMA, raised the issue of those coming from the United Kingdom. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal had urged the Central government to ban flights from the United Kingdom, where a new, infectious strain of the virus has been detected. “New mutation of corona virus has emerged in UK, which is a super-spreader. I urge central govt to ban all flights from UK immediately,” Kejriwal had tweeted.

The Central government on Monday afternoon announced the suspension of all flights from the UK, starting midnight on Wednesday till December 31.

“Medical teams have been deployed to conduct RT-PCR tests at the airport on the passengers who are arriving till Tuesday. Also, quarantine centres in hotels in Aerocity have been readied for anyone who tests positive,” said the official cited above, on condition of anonymity.

A second official said training of healthcare workers is underway in Delhi for administering vaccine shots to the people. “Around 400 doctors from different hospitals in the city have almost been trained for the Covid-19 vaccination drive. Now, training for auxiliary nurse midwives and nurses, who would be the actual vaccinators, is beginning. ASHA and Anganwadi workers will also be trained in the next stage to spread awareness about the vaccine in their areas,” said the official, requesting anonymity.

In order to check the spread of coronavirus in the national capital, the Delhi government had in November decided to expand the door-to-door survey to the entire city. The government had roped in several teachers of its schools to be part of the teams conducting the survey.

“Till now, authorities have surveyed 17,210,020 people in Delhi, of which only 0.23% (39,583) had Covid-like symptoms,” the first senior official said.

The L-G also directed officials to give priority to non-Covid patients and normal surgeries, as the coronavirus situation is improving in the city and most beds for Covid-19 patients are vacant. Orders to implement the L-G’s directive on non-Covid patients will be issued soon, a health official said.