Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday ordered authorities to hand over the bodies of suspected COVID-19 cases in Delhi to relatives without waiting for laboratory confirmation of infection but the ashes should be treated with precaution and as per the government guidelines.

The order was given after two high-level meetings Home Minister Amit Shah held on management of the worrying COVID-19 situation in Delhi on Sunday.

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The meeting comes in the wake of spike in Coronavirus cases and deaths at an alarming rate in Delhi.

The first meeting was attended by Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and top officials of the Union Home and Health Ministries, while the second was with with mayors and commissioners of Delhi’s three municipal corporations.

A home ministry spokesperson also said that three teams of four doctors each have been formed with doctors from AIIMS, and central and Delhi governments to inspect the healthcare facilities dedicated to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the national capital.

“In compliance with orders of @HMOIndia @AmitShah, @MoHFW_INDIA directs that bodies of suspected #COVID19 cases be handed over to relatives immediately without waiting for lab. confirmation; bodies to be disposed of with precaution as per Health Min guidelines dated 15.03.2020,” the spokesperson tweeted.

Director General of Health Services, Dr Rajeev Garg, meanwhile, told the Delhi Chief Secretary that the bodies should be immediately handed over to the family members without any delay.

Garg, in the letter, said that it has come to light that dead bodies of Covid suspects are not handed over to their family members who are kept waiting for the final test reports.

“I want to clarify that the bodies of such suspects should be immediately handed over to the family members. It is not necessary to wait for the results of corona test,” he said.

He also said that the cremation of the dead bodies should be carried out with utmost care and as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry.

Garg said if the report of the deceased comes out positive, then appropriate action should be taken by tracing out their contacts and then isolating them.

Meanwhile, the home ministry spokesperson added that the AIIMS hospital in Delhi has set up a 24×7 COVID-19 helpline for English and Hindi callers to take OPD appointments and talk to volunteers while doctors can talk to consultants.

The ”CoNTec AIIMS” helpline number is 9115444155.

The CoNTeC, an acronym for COVID-19 National Teleconsultation Centre, has been conceptualised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and has been implemented by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

“As per @HMOIndia directions, @MoHFW_INDIA has set up 3 teams of 4 doctors each from AIIMS Delhi, DGHS, MOHFW & #GNCTD, assisted by MCD officials; teams to inspect major dedicated #COVID19 facilities proposed in Delhi & make recommendations for improvement,” the spokesperson said in another tweet.

Delhi on Monday saw a spike of 2,224 cases and 56 deaths in last 24 hours taking the total number of infections to 41,182 and fatalities to 1,327.