"No need for worry, we are prepared..., " CM Kejriwal as Delhi witnesses spike in Covid-19 cases

New Delhi [India], March 31 : Amid a spike in cases of Covid-19 in certain states, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that the national capital was prepared and added that wearing of face masks has not been made mandatory as yet.
Addressing media here, Kejriwal said that the Delhi government is monitoring the Covid-19 situation and is prepared to face any eventuality. He noted that Delhi has seen an increase in Covid -19 cases in the last 15 days but there is no need to worry now.
Kejriwal said that 42 cases of Covid-19 were found on March 15 that went up to 295 cases on March 30. There are 932 active cases in the national capital, he said.
"We tried to understand the sudden jumps in the daily covid cases. There is a total of 932 active cases till now, and a total of 2363 Covid tests were conducted on March 30," the Delhi chief minister said.
"There is no need to worry right now but we are taking the necessary steps on time. Till now three deaths have been confirmed, two deaths on Wednesday and one death before that," the CM said adding that these deaths could probably be due to comorbidities and COVID-19 incidentals.
Kejriwal pointed out that on Thursday, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had held a meeting with health officials and today he also met with them.
"The Centre identified six states two weeks ago where Covid cases were increasing. These states were Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana. Delhi was not among those states," Kejriwal said.
The chief minister stated that his government is conducting genome sequencing of all COVID-19-positive cases to timely identify new variants.
Right now the most predominant variant that is found is XBB1.16, in 48 per cent of cases this variant is found and in almost all other cases the sub-variant of this variant is found. This variant has three qualities it spreads very fast but it is not severe. The CM cautioned that even if a person is vaccinated it manages to infect.
He said, 7896 beds have been reserved for Covid-19 patients including oxygen, ICU and ventilator beds. Out of these 7986 beds only 66 beds have been occupied so far, he said.
Chief Minister also stated that the Delhi government is testing sewage samples to ascertain in advance if Covid was spreading fast.
"For conducting RTPCR tests we have enough capacity, we have the capacity to conduct 4000 tests in government labs and in private labs, we have the capacity to conduct more than 1 lakh tests per day,: he informed further.
Taking about the vaccination CM said, "Vaccine performance is also very good, better than the initial average, almost everyone in the 18-plus category is vaccinated and people below 18 are vaccinated with the first dose and for the second dose 85 per cent people are vaccinated".
"We have a sufficient ambulance and sufficient oxygen, sufficient storage capacity. We conducted mock drill in Delhi Government hospitals," the CM said adding that the Centre had issued directions for mock drills in hospitals in the national capital on April 10-11.
Delhi government will run a campaign to inform people to be cautious and take precautions against Covid-19, he informed.
The chief minister said that 2 per cent of people are randomly tested at airports in the national capital and instructions were given to the government hospital in the city to keep the isolation ward for Covid-19 patients.
The chief minister said that that people suffering from respiratory diseases should wear masks to stay safe. He urged people to follow all COVID-19 protocols, including social distancing and hand hygiene, to stay safe.
"So people in Delhi do not need to worry, the government is keeping a sharp eye and the government is ready to face any situation," Kejriwal said.