Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday noted that the coronavirus cases in the Capital were rising and said that this could be considered the “third wave”, PTI reported.
Kejriwal assured people that there was no reason to panic and said the government was monitoring the situation. “We will take whatever steps are needed,” he said. The chief minister said the Delhi government’s priority was to provide the best healthcare facilities and treatment to coronavirus-positive patients and to keep the death rate as low as possible.
He added that there was no shortage of beds in hospitals for Covid-19 patients. “However, there is a scarcity of ICU [intensive care unit] beds in some big, private hospitals,” he said. “But we are trying to set things right.”
The chief minister said the government had increased the number of ICU beds in private hospitals but the Delhi High Court stayed the order. The government will move the Supreme Court, urging it to vacate the stay, he added.
The Delhi High Court had on September 22 stayed the Aam Aadmi Party government’s order to reserve 80% of beds in ICUs of 33 private hospitals for coronavirus patients. The court had said the government’s order appeared to be “arbitrary”, “unreasonable”, and a violation of fundamental rights of an individual.
The chief minister added that the Delhi government will take a call on banning firecrackers on Thursday in view of the upcoming Diwali festival, the Hindustan Times reported. Kejriwal said the decision would be taken at a Covid-19 meeting.
“The meeting will discuss a gamut of issues such as allowing firecrackers to availability of Covid-19 beds, especially those in ICUs,” he said, adding that the meeting would be held at 4 pm.
Delhi had on Tuesday reported its biggest rise in daily new coronavirus infections with 6,725 cases, data from the health bulletin showed. The city has a total of 4,03,096 cases, pushing the positivity rate to 11.29% amid worsening air pollution and the festival season.
This was the first time that the number of daily cases has crossed the 6,000-mark. The previous highest single-day rise – 5,891 cases – was recorded last week on October 30. Meanwhile, the toll jumped to 6,652 with 48 more deaths as of Tuesday. As many as 3,60,069 people have recovered from the disease.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!