Kejriwal govt & LG Baijal agree: Delhi containment zones too big; making smaller will help

Amid the Coronavirus battle in the National Capital, a big delay is being reported in receiving the test results, especially from the large containment zones. According to the Delhi Government, the delay in the test results extends to 10 days or beyond and this is the main reason for more positive cases being reported in the Containment Zones. Delhi has so far 3108 positive cases with 877 recovered patients and 54 deaths reported as per the Health Ministry Data.

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Test results delayed due to very large containment zones: Jain

Cabinet Minister Satyendra Jain informed the Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, in a video conferencing meeting held on Tuesday, that the containment Zones are very large in size in the National Capital and due to which surveillance is becoming problematic and the test results of samples are yet to be received in many cases.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal who was also present at the virtual meeting suggested that if the containment zones can be segregated and made smaller so that Delhi could pass from the red into the orange zone. Adding further he said that work to segregate zones has already started, and this is the reason the number of containment zones is increasing.

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Doctors suggest private labs for faster test results

Doctors from the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and others who also attended the meeting informed that the test results are being delayed because of the workload as laboratories in Delhi are catering to the neighbouring areas. The doctors suggested that private laboratories should be considered to speed up the testing process.

READ | 'No new Covid case reported in 80 districts since last week': Health Min Dr Harsh Vardhan

About the review meeting 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday reviewed the current status of COVID-19 surveillance in Delhi along with Anil Baijal, LG of Delhi, Satyendar Jain, Health Minister of Delhi, MCD Commissioners, DMs and DCPs of all districts of Delhi, Central / State and District surveillance officers and Heads of Government Hospitals via Video Conferencing. Shri Rajesh Bhushan, OSD (MoHFW), Dr. Rajiv Garg, DGHS (MoHFW) and Dr S K Singh, Dir (NCDC) were also present during the review meeting

Harsh Vardhan also reviewed the research work conducted by the Directors / Heads of Department of Bio-Technology and its 18 Autonomous Bodies and PSUs through Video Conference. He has directed to expedite the development of antibody detection kits, real-time PCR based detection kits and vaccines for COVID-19 under 'Make in India'.

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