Health workers and Covid patients perform Yoga at a Covid center attached with LNJP Hospital in New Delhi on Friday. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
Delhi Coronavirus (Covid-19) India News highlights: With 2,244 fresh infections, the coronavirus cases in Delhi neared 1 lakh to stand at 99,444 on Sunday, while the death toll mounted to 3,067 with 63 new fatalities. According to the latest bulletin, 71,339 patients have recovered and been discharged so far, while the number of active cases stood at 25,038. As many as 6,43,504 tests have been conducted so far.
The Delhi government will set up a ‘COVID-19 War Room’, which will 24×7 monitor the city’s battle against coronavirus, and suggest measures to effectively deal with the prevailing situation, officials said on Sunday. The ‘COVID-19 War Room’, which is being set up at the Delhi Secretariat, will be manned by around 25 experts. It is expected to become operational in the next few days.
The health department in their revised guidelines for home isolation on Friday said Covid patients suffering from immunity-targeting health conditions like cancer, HIV and others were not eligible for home isolation. The bulletin also said psychiatrists working in hospitals and medical institutions under the Delhi Health department would be deployed at Covid hospitals and facilities to provide tele-consultancy to patients.
A donor at Delhi's plasma bank. (Express Photo: Tashi Tobgyal)
Delhi has managed to more than double the number of ICU beds with ventilators over the past month, data shows. While there were 408 ventilator beds in the city on June 3, the number rose to 898 by Sunday evening. As the number of Covid-19 cases rises in Delhi, the state government is focusing more on those with severe symptoms and who need intensive care.(Read more here)
Fewer Covid-19 patients in Delhi now require hospitalisation, and the capital has ample beds and more ICU capacity than is needed at the moment, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.
Kejriwal accompanied Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on a visit to a temporary hospital set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in the city.
A former Congress MLA serving jail sentence in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case died due to Covid-19 at a hospital here, the second inmate of Mandoli prison to have succumbed to the infection, officials said on Sunday. Mahender Yadav (70) was a former MLA from Palam constituency. He was lodged in Jail no. 14 of Mandoli prison, where he was undergoing a sentence of 10 years, and had been hospitalised on June 26, they said. Another convict Kanwar Singh, who died last month and had tested positive for coronavirus, was also lodged in Jail no. 14. Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said that Yadav complained of uneasiness and some heart-related problems on June 26. He was taken to DDU Hospital, from where he was referred to LNJP Hospital the same day and admitted there. (PTI)
With 2,244 fresh infections, the coronavirus cases in Delhi neared 1 lakh to stand at 99,444 on Sunday, while the death toll mounted to 3,067 with 63 new fatalities. According to the latest bulletin, 71,339 patients have recovered and been discharged so far, while the number of active cases stood at 25,038. As many as 6,43,504 tests have been conducted so far.
Officials said that the 'COVID-19 War Room' will also flag discrepancies in those areas wherein authorities can take steps to prepare a robust system. "The 'COVID-19 War Room' will closely monitor measures being taken by the authorities. It will also project the future requirements of medical infrastructure to deal with surging coronavirus cases. For instance, if there is shortage of ambulance in the city, it will inform authorities about it," an oficial said.
The Delhi government will set up a 'COVID-19 War Room', which will 24x7 monitor the city's fight against the novel coronavirus, and suggest measures to effectively deal with the prevailing situation, officials said on Sunday. The 'COVID-19 War Room', which is being set up at the Delhi Secretariat, will be manned by around 25 experts. It is expected to become operational in the next few days.
According to the plan, the new strategic facility will cover all aspects such as testing, bed strength, medical equipment, ambulance infrastructure and containment zones. It will represent a snapshot of the city's position when it comes to tackling the COVID-19 situation, the officials said, adding that Chief Secretary Vijay Dev has directed officials to set up the same as soon as possible.
Officials said that the 'COVID-19 War Room' will also flag discrepancies in those areas wherein authorities can take steps to prepare a robust system. "The 'COVID-19 War Room' will closely monitor measures being taken by the authorities. It will also project the future requirements of medical infrastructure to deal with surging coronavirus cases. (PTI)
Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited a newly-created temporary hospital with 1,000 beds, including 250 in the ICU, which will treat COVID-19 patients, in Delhi on Sunday, officials said. The facility has been constructed in just 11 days near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on a piece of land belonging to the Ministry of Defence.
"Visiting the 1000 Bed Sardar Patel COVID Hospital with 250 ICU Beds built in record time by DRDO & Tata Sons along with Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh ji," Shah said in a tweet. The armed forces personnel will man the hospital, a home ministry official said. (PTI)
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal inaugurated the 10,000-bed Sardar Patel COVID care centre, the "largest" of its kind in the world, at the Radha Soami Satsang Beas here on Sunday. The centre has been set up in Chhatarpur for treating mild and asymptomatic coronavirus patients.
It will also serve as a treatment centre for those who are asymptomatic but cannot afford home isolation. The centre is 1,700 feet long, 700 feet wide -- roughly the size of 20 football fields -- and has 200 enclosures with 50 beds each. Authorities say it is the largest of its kind in the world.
While the Delhi government has provided administrative support, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will be the nodal agency operating the centre. Volunteers from the religious sect of Radha Soami Beas will also help run the centre. (PTI)
Delhi recorded 2,505 fresh coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the tally in the city to over 97,000, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 3,004, authorities said. Fifty-five fatalities were recorded on Saturday, a Delhi health department bulletin said. It also said that 26 earlier deaths have been included in the cumulative figure. The bulletin said the death toll from coronavirus infection has risen to 3,004, and the total number of cases mounted to 97,200.
On June 23, the national capital had reported its highest single-day spike of 3,947 cases. However, in the last five days, the number of fresh cases have oscillated, not showing a particular trend in figures. The death toll from COVID-19 in Delhi stood at 2,923 on Friday. With a drop in average fresh cases reported per day in Delhi over the past one week, experts on Saturday claimed that the city may go past its COVID-19 peak in early August. However, they cautioned that before reaching any conclusion, the trend of cases should be watched over the next week or so.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the recovery rate in the city had crossed 70 per cent, while his deputy, Manish Sisodia, tweeted that the positivity rate has "dipped to 10.58 per cent from 36.94 per cent earlier". The bulletin also said the cabinet secretary took a meeting on public health response to COVID-19, in implementation of the Home Ministry's guidelines dated June 29, and to review preparedness. According to the bulletin, 68,256 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far, while the number of active cases stood at 25,940. As many as 6,20,368 tests have been conducted so far. The number of containment zones in the city on Saturday stood at 448. (PTI)
Delhi records 2,505 fresh coronavirus cases, taking tally to over 97,000; death toll crosses 3,000-mark.
Addressing the , Prime Minister Narendra Modi payed his tribute to all the workers who lost their lives fighting the disease. he said, " Several of our workers despite knowing the danger, kept working in the service of people and lost their lives. I pay my tributes to all of them & express condolences to their families."
Reviewing relief works by BJP workers during the lockdown, Modi called it as the " biggest 'sewa yajna' in human history."
"I urge you to prepare Digital booklets documenting the relief works, at mandal, district, state & country levels. The booklets should be in at least 3 languages," added the PM.
Commending the work done by BJP workers across the country during lockdown, BJP President JP Nadda said, "over 8 lakh BJP workers distributed nearly 22 crore food packets, 5 crores 'Modi ration kits' and more than 5 crore face covers during the lockdown period. Our workers encouraged about 58 lakh people to contribute to 'PM CARES Fund.'"
Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins addressing BJP workers at 'Seva he Sanghatan'
More than 45 per cent of the over 5.96 lakh COVID-19 tests in Delhi were conducted in the last 16 days, after the government started testing through the rapid-antigen methodology in and around containment zones of the national capital. Rapid-antigen tests started in the city on June 18. Since then a total of 2,75,396 tests through the RT-PCR (reverse transcription?polymerase chain reaction) and rapid-antigen methods have been conducted in Delhi with around 17,000 tests per day. Of this, around 1.5 lakh people have been tested through rapid-antigen kits, according to the Delhi government's health bulletins.
Till June 18, health authorities conducted 3,21,302 tests for the disease using the 'expensive but gold standard' RT-PCR method. The number of tests per day has also seen an around four-fold increase from 4,190 tests per day in the first week of June to 15,863 tests per day in the last week of the month. On Friday alone, more than 24,000 tests -- 10,577 RT-PCR tests and 13,588 rapid-antigen tests -- were conducted in the city, a massive jump from 6,538 tests conducted a month ago on June 3.
In the last one month, from June 3 to July 3, as many as 3.66 lakh people have been tested for COVID-19, which is 12,218 tests daily. So far, 5,96,698 tests have been conducted through RT-PCR and the rapid-antigen methods. On Friday, the government expanded rapid-antigen testing, earlier limited to containment zones, to other areas in all 11 districts of the national capital. Now, state-run and private hospitals in the capital have also begun testing for COVID-19 using this method following the nod of the government.
As Delhi's Fatehpuri mosque is allowed to reopen, Mufti Mukarram Ahmed, the mosque's Shahi Imam urged visitors to take precautionary measures such as wearing masks and using disinfectants and emphasised to not forget the ongoing battle against the pandemic.
Delhi's Jama Masjid will reopen for the public today with visitors allowed to visit from 9 am to 10 pm and social distancing will be followed,Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi Imam of the mosque said, ANI reported.
The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi, after a spike in the 3rd week of June have slowed down considerably. Even though the capital is reporting 2,000 new cases its growth rate has fallen below 3%. Delhi added more than 17,000 new cases in the last one week.(Read our Explainer here)
The coronavirus lockdown from 25 March to 8 June has resulted in a significant reduction of air pollution levels in the national capital and other cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore, an analysis of the CPCB Air Quality Index data has noted.
Delhi achieved 95% target National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) target set by the Centre, as per the analysis carried out jointly by CarbonCopy and Respirer Living Sciences. Delhi’s PM 2.5 average during the lockdown was 49. It was 101.3 in 2017, 121 in 2018 and 109.2 in 2019.
After Bharat Biotech's Covaxine, Zydus Cadila, an Ahmedabad headquartered pharma firm expects to complete the first two phases of human clinical trials for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, ‘ZyCov-D’, in the next three months, according to the chairman of the firm.
A junior resident doctor at Delhi's Maulana Azad Institute for Dental Sciences (MAIDS) was tested covid-19 negative twice before he passed away following complaints of chest congestion and breathlessness on Thursday.Read more here
Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Raghav Chadha Friday accused the centre for causing unnecessary confusion in the national capital by first scrapping its home isolation guidelines, reinstating it and then releasing nation-wide guidelines that were similar to those that were being followed in Delhi.
The guidelines had become a flashpoint between the Delhi government and the L-G last month, when the latter had passed an order that everyone who tests positive would have to spend at least five days in institutional quarantine.
In India's highest single day spike so far, 22,771 people tested positive in the last 24 hours taking the total tally to 6,48,315 on Saturday with the death toll rising to 18,655 with 442 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.The number of recovered patients are on a steady rise and around " 60.80 per cent of patients have recovered so far," an official said.
At least 600 medical personnel comprising doctors, nurses and paramedical staff from the tri-services have been mobilised to treat coronavirus in Delhi's 1,000 bed dedicated Covid-19 hospital near Indira Gandhi International Airport that will become functional Monday. The hospital will be managed by teams from the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), which have been specially trained in Covid-19 care.
This comes after the Chief of Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat directed General Armed Forces Medical Services Lt Gen Anup Banerji to align efforts of the AFMS towards caring for the sudden surge in cases.(Read the full story here)
Welcome to our live blog: Delhi's caseload stands at 94,695 along with 2,923 fatalities as of Friday evening as the department issued revised guidelines for home isolation.