Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday said that two genome sequencing labs are being set up in the city to identify variants of coronavirus.
These labs will be set up in LNJP and ILBS hospitals and made functional in about one week, Jain said, adding that the Delhi Government is preparing for the third wave taking in account a maximum of 37,000 cases per day.
Jain also stressed the need to keep following the Covid appropriate behaviour.
“The last wave which Delhi witnessed was of Delta variant. The coronavirus mutates continuously. There are multiple variants such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta etc. There have been no cases of Delta plus variants in Delhi so far,” he added. While responding to the queries about actions taken on crowded markets, Jain said, “The Covid Guidelines need to be strictly followed. Last time during January and February, when the Covid cases came down, like this time, people got complacent. People thought that corona was gone. It seems that it has not gone yet but it still persists.
“We are aggressively preparing for the pandemic. We have not received any notice from the Central Government which states that there should be a particular kind of preparation for the Delta plus variant. Be it any variant, vaccination and using a face mask are the two ways to prevent infection,” he said.
"There are several variants of coronavirus, but there are only two ways to protect yourself against it -- get vaccinated and use masks. There is no separate communication from the Centre to make special preparations for the Delta plus variant. Also, Delhi has not reported any such cases so far," Jain added.
He said the Delhi Government is in the process of increasing hospital beds to accommodate 37,000 cases a day in case of a third wave.
The Delhi government has already installed 32 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants with a total capacity of 29.77 metric tonnes (MT).
Three liquid medical oxygen storage tanks with a cumulative capacity of 171 MT have also been installed.
Jain also said the coronavirus situation is under control in Delhi, but appealed to people to continue observing Covid appropriate behaviour.
"The number of cases had reduced significantly in January and February too, and people let their guards down. The experience of the last one-and-a-half-year shows one has to remain vigilant all the time," he added.