Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday opposed Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal’s recent order on a mandatory five-day institutional quarantine for “each case” under home quarantine in the city, senior government officials said. Kejriwal’s comments came during a meeting with the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Saturday noon.
Kejriwal also said that the move will shift the entire focus from moderate and serious patients of Covid-19 to those who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.
“This is a time when our main focus should be on increasing the recovery rate and keep fatalities at a bare minimum. Should our primary focus be on the serious patients or the asymptomatic or mild persons who actually need no medical treatment as such?” Kejriwal reportedly asked the L-G in the meeting.
An official, who was part of the meeting, confirmed that chief minister Kejriwal said that when the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is allowing home-isolation for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases across the country, “why were different rules being implemented in Delhi?”
The chief minister is learnt to have told the L-G that people would avoid getting tested for the disease fearing they would be sent off to an institutional quarantine facility for five days.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister is learnt to have told the L-G that people would avoid getting tested for the disease fearing they would be sent off to an institutional quarantine facility for five days.
{{/usCountry}}The officials also said that Kejriwal mentioned the shortage of health care staff and the difficulties in getting doctors and nurses at such a short notice for thousands of patients at the quarantine centres.
The meeting between the Delhi administration and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on the 5-day mandatory quarantine order ended on Saturday without reaching any conclusion. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said they failed to reach an agreement and will meet again at 5 pm.
No consensus could be reached on the issue of Covid-19 treatment rates in private hospitals. Sisodia said that the Centre has recommended reduction of rates only for 24% of the beds in private hospitals whereas the Delhi government wants this to be 60%. This will also be discussed in the 5 pm meeting today.
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