Amit Shah refutes Sisodia's claim on Delhi having 550,000 Covid cases by July 31; Explains

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday refuted the remarks made by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia about the national capital reaching 5.5 lakh COVID-19 cases by the end of July. Stating that Sisodia’s remarks had created "fear" among people, Shah expressed confidence that Delhi will not reach such a stage. He also cleared that there was no community transmission of Coronavirus in the national capital.

Speaking to ANI, the Home Minister Amit Shah said a series of steps had been taken to contain the virus and multi-agency meetings had been held to improve coordination at various levels.

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"Manish Sisodia said that by July 31 there will be 5.5 lakh persons infected with the virus. He said that there will be no place left, no beds left and the situation will be difficult. This created a lot of fear in the minds of people in Delhi. His estimate was based on figures. I do not want to go into whether the estimate was right or wrong. But a situation of fear arose and some people started mulling an exodus (out of Delhi)," said Amit Shah

"I can say now with confidence that situation of 5.5 lakh cases will not come on July 31. We will be in good condition because we have laid stress on preventive steps including more tests and contact tracing," he added.

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‘No Community spread in Delhi’

When asked about the difference of opinion between the Centre and Delhi Government on whether 'Community Spread' of the Coronavirus had begun in the national capital, Amit Shah said the city had not reached that stage yet. He added that the Centre would not hesitate in announcing the same if such a situation occurs in the future.

It appeared as is community spread began in Delhi because 30 percent of the total test conducted had turned out positive, said Shah. This was because the tests were being conducted at the last minute.

“Now that we have started doing 20,000 tests on average, this condition is not there. I have held technical discussions on this...today this situation is not there in Delhi. There is no need to fear," he said.

The decisions announced after a meeting called by the Amit Shah on June 14, included ramping up Coronavirus testing to three-fold in six days, providing 500 converted rail coaches to add 8,000 beds and ensuring the availability of 60 percent beds in private hospitals at lower rates.

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(With inputs from ANI)