The Delhi Government will visit the houses of passengers who have arrived in the national capital in past 10 days from the UK to check their health condition. Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said that people who travelled to Delhi from the UK in the past 10 days are being traced, tested and advised quarantine.
The move was taken considering the new strain of Covid-19 detected in the UK.
"The Delhi government is on alert in the wake of a mutated coronavirus strain detected in the UK. The situation is being closely monitored and mandatory tests are being conducted at the Delhi airport for all passengers arriving from that country," he said.
Jain said Delhi has seen the lowest positivity rate of 1.29 per cent in eight months. For the first time in 4 months, the number of covid positive cases were under 1,000.
Jain said the vaccine is being developed and manufactured in India. "We are awaiting approval in order to start the manufacturing and roll-out process. Mask is your weapon to combat any number of virus strains," he added.
“After 15 August, we have seen less than 900 positive cases for the first time. Positivity rate has been the lowest in eight months. 1.29 percent which is almost negligible. Since 4-5 days, it has been less than 1.5 per cent. The best way to fight this virus is by wearing a mask whenever you step out into the public sphere.” said Jain.
Remarking on the manufacturing of vaccine, he said, “The vaccine is being developed and manufactured in India. We are awaiting approval in order to start the manufacturing and roll out process”.
Reflecting on the new mutation of Coronavirus in the United Kingdom, the Minister said, “The new mutation is spreading fast in the UK. According to the data, there has been a rapid spurt in cases, around 30,000 cases per day. This is why we requested the Central Government to ban flights to the UK, which they did start today.”
Commenting on the preparedness of Delhi to combat the new strain, Jain said, “The reason behind the fast spread of virus in the months of March-April was also was that frequent travelling to Delhi. All the people who are travelling via the UK are being tested at the airport and those travelling on international flights are required to carry a test report with them," he said.
Talking about the strategy to tackle the situation, he said "We will identify all those who are based out of Delhi in the past two weeks, and conduct door to door testing for them," he said.
Responding to the query surrounding the detection of the new strain, the Minister said, “Only ICMR will be able to test and clarify the differences and ways of detection owing to its scientific nature," he said.
"We will still be conducting tests because Delhi has successfully combated the third wave of coronavirus, and we would not want anything to hamper our success," he said.