Delhi to Screen Every House by July 6 as Part of New Covid-19 Response Plan

New Delhi: With Delhi's tally of Covid-19 cases crossing the 66,000-mark with the biggest single-day jump of 3,947 fresh infections on Tuesday, the Arvind Kejriwal government has come up with a new strategy to contain the spread of infection.

By June 30 all houses in the containment zones will be screened and by By July 6, every house in the national capital will be screened, the government said as part of the new Covid response plan released after meetings between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Kejriwal in the last week.

The national capital reported 3,000 or more fresh cases between Friday and Sunday. On Monday, 2,909 cases were recorded in the city.

Sixty-eight fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours, a Delhi health department bulletin said on Tuesday.

The death toll due to the coronavirus infection has risen to 2,301, and the total number of cases mounted to 66,602, it said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 stood at 2,233 in Delhi on Monday. The bulletin said an order has been issued regarding a revised COVID response plan for Delhi.

An order has also been issued for posting senior nursing officers at 68 private hospitals for monitoring admission of COVID-19 patients, it said.

According to the bulletin, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi stands at 24,988. A total of 39,313 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far.

Till now, 4,01,648 tests have been conducted, the bulletin said. As of Tuesday, there are 261 containment zones in the national capital.

Meanwhile, the AAP government on Tuesday urged Lt Governor Anil Baijal to scrap the system requiring every COVID-19 patient to visit a government-run centre for clinical assessment.

A 10,000-bed COVID-19 facility at the premises of Radha Saomi Satsang Beas in south Delhi to be operated by the ITBP will be functional by June 26, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after he asked for doctors and nurses from the ITBP and the Army to run the centre.

Delhi had on Monday overtaken Tamil Nadu as the second worst-hit among the state and union territories. With 68 fresh cases, the death toll has now reached 2,301.

Sources said the chief minister has also invited Shah to visit the upcoming facility on the sprawling campus of spiritual organisation RSSB.

In a series of tweets, Shah said a 1,000-bed full-fledged hospital with 250 ICU beds is being developed for COVID-19 patients and the facility, to be manned by armed forces personnel, will be ready in the next 10 days.

"Dear Kejriwal ji, It has already been decided in our meeting 3 days back and MHA has assigned the work of operating the 10,000 bed COVID Care Centre at Radha Swami Beas in Delhi to ITBP. The work is in full swing and a large part of the facility will be operational by 26th Jun," he said.

Sources said the ITBP, which has established a 1,000-bed quarantine at its camp in Chhawla, has been appointed as the nodal the agency for the RSSB.

Responding to Shah's tweets, Kejriwal thanked him for helping the AAP government and Delhiites in these difficult circumstances.

"The country's Army, doctors, social organisations, central government and Delhi government - all are working unitedly for Delhi. I am sure that we all will beat Corona together. Thank you for helping the Delhi government and the people of Delhi in these difficult circumstances," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

Shah also said the armed forces personnel have been detailed for providing medical care and attention to COVID-19 patients housed in railway coaches in Delhi.

A total of 8,000 additional beds have already been placed at Delhi government's disposal for making COVID care centres, as per requirement, Shah said.

Delhi would need 1.5 lakh beds in healthcare facilities by July 31 once people start coming to the city for treatment from other states, Kejriwal had said, adding that his government had "unprecedented challenges" ahead as data showed that COVID-19 cases would rapidly increase in Delhi in the coming days.

Last week, Baijal had issued an order, making it mandatory for every new COVID-19 patient to undergo five-day institutional quarantine. It was later amended after opposition from the AAP government.

Every coronavirus patient is now required to visit a care centre for clinical assessment to ascertain whether he requires hospitalisation or home isolation.