The Delhi State Disaster Management Committee headed by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal is meeting on Thursday to review all measures taken, best and worst case scenarios, hospital infrastructure facilities and containment measures to counter the pandemic.
With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava, Chief Secretary Vijay Dev and General Officer Commanding Delhi Area in attendance, the committee will also deliberate on the city’s stand on extending the 21-day lockdown, and if so, for how long.
This view will be largely communicated by Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the chief ministers’ conference via video on April 11.
The 21-day lockdown is due to expire on April 14 if not extended further.
The day before the meeting, Delhi government officials reported a spike in the number of people who have tested positive to coronavirus disease.
The Covid-19 count, which stood at 576 last evening, ricocheted to 669 cases after 93 people tested positive in the last 24 hours, a home department official in the Delhi Government said.
All the 93 people were already in state-run quarantine facilities after their evacuation from the Nizamuddin headquarters of the religious sect.
{{/usCountry}}All the 93 people were already in state-run quarantine facilities after their evacuation from the Nizamuddin headquarters of the religious sect.
{{/usCountry}}It is understood that the Delhi Lt-Governor has asked the administration to find out whether all the contacts to the Tablighi Jamaatis who attended the congregation at Markaz in Nizamuddin had been traced, quarantined and tested for the coronavirus.
The administration has also been asked to inform the committee whether there were women accompanying the Tablighis had also been traced in order to plug any leakages.
Officials said the national capital had been implementing a containment plan in areas where Covid-19 cases had been detected. By Wednesday evening, Delhi chief minister Manish Sisodia said there were 20 such hotspots where the containment plan was in force.
The Markaz at Nizamuddin was one of the first places in the city to be notified as a Covid-19 hotspot.
While the final call on lifting of lockdown will be taken by Prime Minister Modi after consultation with chief ministers and medical experts after March 11, the Delhi administration is of the view that there should be a graded response to lifting of the lockdown with the capability of immediately seal any part of a cluster in case of any further positive cases.
The final call will have to balance between the loss of income and jobs for the workers and labourers and their health and safety. Already, a number of these people have picked up private loans to cater to their daily requirements in times of pandemic.
Ahead of the review meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced that the government had identified 20 hotspots in the national capital. Sisodia’s remarks came after some more positive cases were reported in the old city’s Sadar area.