Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said that the lockdown will not be extended in the national capital, even as Coronavirus cases continue to spike at an alarming rate in the city.
The clarification came in response to a huge buzz on social media that Delhi would go back into lockdown from June 15 till July 31 to check the spiraling COVID-19 cases.
The clarification also comes in the wake of the Aam Aadmi Party government informing that 5.5 lakh cases are expected in Delhi by July 31 based on the current doubling rate which is 12-13 days.
“By 15 June, there will be 44,000 cases and 6,600 beds will be needed. By 30 June, we will reach 1 lakh cases and 15,000 beds will be required. By 15 July, there will be 2.25 lakh cases and 33,000 beds will be needed. By 31 July, 5.5 lakh cases are expected and 80,000 beds will be needed,” Manish Sisodia had said on Tuesday.
Delhi has seen a spurt in Coronavirus cases and over 1,000 new cases daily for the past few days. It is the third worst-hit state with 34,687 cases and 1,085 deaths.
The health minister has also refuted MCD’s claim of 2098 Coronavirus deaths in Delhi.
Meanwhile, Central officials, at a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) on Tuesday told the Delhi government there is no community transmission of Coronavirus as the city as of now.
Jain had earlier this week said that in almost half of the cases in the capital, the source of the infection cannot be ascertained.
“We can say that there is community spread only when the Centre admits it,” he further said and added: “AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria had said there is community transmission in Delhi but the centre has not accepted it yet. We cannot declare it and the centre has to declare it. Community spread is a technical term and it depends on the centre whether they accept it or not.”
Jain further said the Delhi government earlier expected that the beds in private hospitals would cater to patients up to 15 days but found that most of the beds reserved for COVID-19 patients have been used in 4-5 days. He added that bed-capacity needs to be enhanced further.
A panel, appointed by the Delhi government to guide it on healthcare infrastructure augmentation and overall preparedness of hospitals to battle COVID-19 in the national capital, has stated that Delhi will need 15,000 beds by the end of June.