The federal government yesterday advised the Delhi administration to increase testing and build medical care capacity as the national capital is witnessing a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Ministry secretary Rajesh Bhushan said several meetings between the federal government and the Delhi administration were held last week to discuss a strategy to control the spread of the virus.
“In the meetings, we drew the attention of the Delhi administration to increase testing at spots with potential to increase infection like markets, workplaces, factories and places of religious gathering,” Bhushan said.
He also said the Delhi administration was advised to enhance the capacity of beds, oxygen and other medical equipment required for patients’ care.
The latest upsurge of Covid-19 numbers has led to a collapse of healthcare facilities in the national capital.
Balram Bhargava, director general of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) said that a combination of several factors including air pollution, cold weather, ongoing festival and marriage season and inter-district movement without observing social distancing norms have led to a sharp rise in the number of cases in Delhi.
Meanwhile, amid projections of a second wave hitting Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked the health and medical education departments to maintain the levels of testing at 30,000 a day.
He also ordered amendment in rules to enable direct recruitment of super-specialist doctors to meet a shortfall of medical staff.
The chief minister asked police to crack down heavily on those not wearing masks or not adhering to social distancing and other norms.
Underlining the need to focus specially on potential super spreaders, he said government employees must be tested routinely, and with schools and colleges opening up, it was important to make proper schedules and enhance the number of mobile teams for testing.
Expressing concern over the high mortality rate in the state, Singh asked a medical experts’ team to evolve effective strategies to tackle the problem.
Also yesterday, Maharashtra reported a sharp fall in Covid-19 deaths and cases.
The state witnessed 110 deaths, compared to the peak of 515 on September 15, taking the toll to 45,435.
Maharashtra recorded 3,791 fresh cases - much lower than the peak single-day tally of 24,886 recorded on September 11.
Andhra Pradesh reported 1,886 new cases, increasing the state’s tally to 846,000, as 2,151 more recoveries outnumbered infections.
Chittoor accounted for the highest number of infections, 291, followed by West Godavari (282), Guntur (275), Krishna (269), East Godavari (227) and Prakasam (111).
The southern state is consistently recording an impressive number of recoveries everyday. Yesterday 2,151 more patients recovered from the disease to outnumber fresh cases and increase the total recoveries to 818,000.
Of the 846,000 cases, active cases have plummeted to 20,958.