Union Home Secretary reviews COVID-19 situation in Delhi as cases surge

Amid the surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in the national capital, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla reviewed the situation of COVID-19 in a meeting which was attended by Dr V.K. Paul, Member of NITI Aayog, ICMR and Union Health Ministry officials, Delhi Police Commissioner and other senior officers of Delhi government. 

The Delhi government officials made a presentation on the COVID-19 situation in Delhi that is witnessing the third surge in COVID-19 cases. The Delhi government contended that the recent surge is due to the festive season which has witnessed a greater movement of people. The government said it is focusing on testing, contact tracing and treatment as the new COVID cases and total active cases have been increasing.

Surge in cases attributed to festive season: Delhi Government

An official statement detailing the discussions of the meeting said that a strategy to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Delhi, especially keeping in view the festival season and decreasing temperatures accompanied by rising pollution was discussed at length with representatives of Union Health Ministry and the health experts who were present in the meeting. 

"It was decided to concentrate efforts in certain key areas, such as targeted RT-PCR testing in the sensitive and critical zones such as restaurants, market places, barbershops/salons, etc; gear up the availability of medical resources including beds, ICUs, and ventilators as a pre-emptive measure; ensure a high degree of contact tracing and monitoring of quarantined contacts, so as to suppress and break the chain of transmission," the statement said.

"It was also decided to enhance enforcement selectively, accompanied by greater awareness creation through targeted IEC (Information, Education and Communication) campaigns; and ensuring that all cases under home isolation were monitored and shifted to hospitals well in time, before any deterioration in their medical condition. It was also emphasized that the Metro travel should be carefully regulated, strictly in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that has been issued in this regard," it added.

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The Home Secretary appreciated the efforts of the Delhi government while adding that the strategies for containment of the spread of COVID-19 in Delhi should be strictly enforced and implemented. "He stressed the need for reaching out to the residents of Delhi to sensitize them about safe COVID behaviour through RWAs, Mohalla and Market Committees, public announcement systems, message on police vehicles," the statement said while concluding that the situation will be reviewed again in the coming weeks.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of the surge in COVID-19 as over 5,000 cases have been recorded for five consecutive days till November 1 in Delhi, taking the positivity rate to nearly 13%, according to news agency PTI. Currently, Delhi's COVID-19 count has increased to 3,92,370 of which 34,173 are active and 6562 have died while the national capital has reported 3,51,635 recoveries.

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