Gurugram to prepare draft for common NCR strategy in 3 days

The Gurugram administration on Thursday said that the district will put together a plan for a common strategy and send it to the Haryana government in the next three

The Gurugram administration on Thursday said that the district will put together a plan for a common strategy and send it to the Haryana government in the next three days.

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The move comes after Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday emphasised the need to have a unified strategy in Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) to tackle the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), adding that suburbs such as Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad can’t be separated from the Capital in the public health emergency.

Shah held a meeting with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior officials of the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to review the Covid-19 situation in Delhi-NCR amid a surge in the number of cases of the infectious disease.

The deadly virus so far has infected at least 49,979 people in Delhi, 1,173 in Noida (another 85 cross-notified), 757 in Ghaziabad and 3,991 in Gurugram.

“The Centre has asked us to provide the data related to bed capacity and testing facility for the common Delhi-NCR strategy. Gurugram will hit its peak number of Covid cases in June-July for which we have to prepared. Also, patients from Delhi are even admitted in Gurugram’s hospital. Those details have to be collected,” said a state government official.

“In view of the structure of Delhi-NCR region, all concerned bodies need to unite and work on a common strategy against the coronavirus pandemic. In this context, I met with Delhi Chief Minister and senior officials of Center and Delhi-NCR today to discuss how to evolve a strategy as soon as possible,” Shah tweeted.

During the meeting, the state government was appreciated for the Covid-19 management in Gurugram. The health secretary, union ministry of health and family welfare, said that the district’s Covid-19 helpline number is user- friendly, while isolation centres set up residents’ welfare association (RWA) for Covid-19 is a unique model which Delhi should also consider.

As reported by the HT earlier, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana —which together make NCR — have failed to share or pool healthcare infrastructure and not tried to evolve a common strategy, even as cases in all the three regions continue to spike.

During Thursday’s review meeting, officials from Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat and Jhajjar districts of Haryana were present. Officials from Meerut, Ghaziabad, Baghpat and Gautam Budh Nagar also attended the meeting.

To prepare a collective strategy, a proforma has been shared with the districts adjoining Delhi to provide the information regarding testing, hospital infrastructure and ambulances. Gurugram has to also share details like isolation and hospital capacity, which includes number of ambulances and beds in Covid Care centres for asymptomatic patients. Also, details regarding existing and utilised capacity of isolation beds, beds with oxygen equipment, and beds with or without ventilators was being collated.

Officials said that all the required details were shared with the state government on Thursday evening and will be further sent to the Central government. Currently, 1,428 beds are allocated for confirmed Covid cases with symptoms, 190 beds in ICU for serious patients and 92 beds with ventilator facility in 35 hospitals of the city.

The focus now, officials said, will be augmentation of the number of beds by June end and July 15. Data regarding the same has been sought from government and private hospitals. In the first week of May, Randeep Gulleria, director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had said that the Covid-19 cases are likely to increase in June-July.

Likewise, data regarding testing labs in government and private set ups has to be submitted to the Centre. Another video conference meet between the Centre and the administrators of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh will be held before finalizing the shared strategy, said the district administration statement.