Coronavirus: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announces 5-point action plan to fight COVID-19

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a five-point action plan to contain the spread of coronavirus in the national capital, and said one lakh random rapid COVID-19 tests will be conducted in the city's hotspot areas.

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Addressing a press conference via video link, Kejriwal said the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, G B Pant Hospital, and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital have been declared as COVID-19 dedicated hospitals.

At present, 2,950 beds in city hospitals are reserved for coronavirus patients. The Delhi government will take over 12,000 hotel rooms in the wake of a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, Kejriwal said.

"We will give the police phone numbers of Tablighi Jamaat event attendees to trace and ascertain whether they moved in nearby areas," he said.

Elaborating on the five-point action plan, the Chief Minister added, "It includes five Ts – testing, tracing, treatment, team-work and tracking – and monitoring."

Informing reporters that the government has made arrangements to deal with 30,000 cases, Kejriwal said provisions will be made for 8,000 more beds to treat patients.

"The government has earmarked around 400 beds in private hospitals for COVID-19 patients. We have prepared detailed plan to take over private hospitals if the number of coronavirus cases rises up to 30,000 in Delhi," he said. "One lakh random rapid COVID-19 tests will be conducted in hotspot areas."

"We will make arrangements in banquet halls and dharamshalas in the city to accommodate 10,000 COVID-19 patients if such a need arises," Kejriwal added.

The number of coronavirus cases rose by 30 to 532 on Monday in Delhi. So far, Delhi has reported seven fatalities.

Addressing an online briefing, the CM said that in the last few days, cases of coronavirus have suddenly spiked in Delhi and one of the reasons behind it is the Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin.

Kejriwal said of 523 cases, 330 are from the Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamuddin centre, which has emerged as a major hotspot for the infection not only in Delhi but in the country.

Scaling up testing will ensure containment of the deadly disease in the national capital, he said.

"Our testing capacity around March 25 was 100-125 people per day, which increased to 500 people per day after April 1. We are now reaching a capacity of around 1,000 tests per day," he said.

The Centre had allotted 27,000 PPE kits for Delhi, Kejriwal said.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)