Random testing for Covid-19 for passengers arriving at Delhi from different states which are witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases would start and those found positive ‘shall be mandatorily quarantined’, the government said on Wednesday. The same move will be rolled out to all railway stations and bus stations.
An official statement by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) read, “District Disaster Management Authorities shall conduct random COVID-19 testing of passengers coming from the states where the cases are increasing.”
The passengers will be allowed to exit after the samples are collected. However, passengers who are found Covid-19 positive will be ‘mandatorily quarantined at their place of stay’ or at a hospital for 10 days as per the protocols by the Health Ministry, said the statement. The government has warned of strict actions for people violating the Covid protocols.
The national capital is witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases. Delhi’s covid caseload surged to 6,60,611 total cases after 995 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.
The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that the coronavirus situation in the country is going ‘from bad to worse’ and it is a huge cause of worry.
“Trends show the virus is still very active and enter our defences, just when we think we can control it, it sparks back,” said VK Paul, Chairman of National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration at the briefing by the health ministry amidst the surge in Covid-19 cases.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said that the health department will review the surge of Covid-19 cases in the National Capital and the availability of Intensive Care Units (ICU) beds, especially for Coronavirus infected patients.
Satyendar Jain’s statement came amid reports that some private hospitals in Delhi were facing a shortage of ICU beds.
Reiterating that these reports came from just one or two private hospitals and that the situation will be corrected, Jain said, “We’ll review the Covid-19 situation and other issues today. Shortage of beds came from one or two private hospitals and that situation will be corrected.”
India in the last 24 hours has recorded 53,480 fresh cases taking the tally to 1.21 crore total cases; 1,62,468 deaths.