Delhi surpasses Mumbai's COVID-19 tally even as state govt plans house-to-house screening

In a massive spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, 3,788 fresh cases were reported in the national capital on Wednesday. With this, the total tally in Delhi rose to over 70,390, surpassing Mumbai to become the worst-hit city in the country. This comes as the Arvind Kejriwal government has announced a house-to-house screening by July 6 as part of a revised containment strategy to contain the virus. On Wednesday, the national capital also reported 64 fresh fatalities, and the death toll climbed to 2,635.

Delhi has reported the highest number of cases and deaths after Maharashtra. Of the four metropolitan cities, Delhi now has the highest number of cases. The coronavirus cases in Mumbai stood at 69,625 and the death toll at 3,962. Chennai has recorded, 45,814 cases so far, while Kolkata had 4,896 cases until Tuesday.

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Chief Minister Kejriwal requested the Centre to withdraw the new system requiring assessment of every COVID-19 patient at a government-run facility, an issue on which the Lieutenant Governor and the AAP government have been having disagreement. Kejriwal said if the administration and police forcibly take patients to COVID care centres for their clinical assessment, it will be like holding them in 'detention for 15 days'.

Meanwhile, Delhi's health minister Satyendra Jain who was tested COVID-19 positive is recovering after going through Plasma Therapy in Max Hospital. 

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Union Minister Amit Shah had stepped in to tackle the worsening COVID-19 situation in the national capital and after meeting L-G Anil Baijal and CM Arvind Kejriwal announced a series of measures. It includes massive contact tracing in order to contain the virus, increasing the beds in Delhi hospitals among others. Shah also instructed the Delhi government to install CCTV cameras in Coronavirus wards of hospitals.

Moreover, the Delhi government has attached five- star hotels like Hotel Crowne Plaza, Hotel Surya, Hotel Sidhartha, Hotel Jivitesh and Hotel Sheraton - to hospitals dedicated COVID-19 facilities.

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Entire City To Be Screened By July 6

The AAP government on Wednesday, June 23, prepared a 'Revised COVID Response Plan' which envisages the completion of house-to-house screening in Delhi by July 6. This plan, based on the recommendations of the Dr.VK Paul Committee, assumes significance at a juncture when Delhi is witnessing a record spike in the number of COVID-19 cases. The plan also aims at strengthening surveillance at the district level, review, and improvement of containment zone strategy, strengthening contact tracing, enhanced use of the Aarogya Setu app, and conducting a serological survey. 

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