Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday at a Press briefing expressed disappointment over laxity in the implementation of the Central SOPs in Delhi despite the national Capital having more than 4,000 containment zones.
He noted that now, an active case search and house to house surveillance need to be stepped up in Delhi.
The Centre’s intervention follows emergence of “unprecedented situation” in Delhi, which, experts said, could worsen in coming weeks with Covid-19 cases rising to 500 cases per million population.
The Covid-19 number is likely to increase, said Bhushan as he noted that Delhi was testing very less in June at around 5,776 tests per day.
Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul, who was also present at the media briefing, said the Ministry is ensuring that 16 people are being traced for every positive case in Delhi.
“We are attempting to increase the number of ICU beds in Delhi to over 6,000, against 3,500 right now. That will put us in a safe zone,” he said adding that house to house surveys will also be conducted in containment zones.
“This will also be undertaken in other vulnerable areas. Total 7,000-8,000 teams will be put on this,” he added.
Increasing ICU beds to over 6,000, doubling coronavirus testing capacity to 1 to 1.2 lakh per day and augmenting homecare support as well as health care staff are among a slew of measures the Centre may implement in the national Capital in view of sharp surge in cases.
A decision has also been taken to increase house-to-house surveillance of active cases in containment zones and other vulnerable pockets for which 7,000-8,000 teams will be put on this exercise, a hike from the existing 3,000 teams that are currently involved, said Bhushan on Tuesday.
The Health Ministry also said that besides increased ICU beds, more RT-PCR testing and quarantine contacts are some of the efforts they are taking to ensure the situation in Delhi is contained.
Bhushan added, “Since the month of October, the number of cases is at a record high. Though fewer cases have been detected in the last 48 hours, but we cannot come to a conclusion now, right now.”
But the Health Ministry is preparing for a more serious situation in Delhi, should it arise, said the Ministry.
Paul said: “If cases go up, we will ramp up our capacity to monitor people in home isolation to 40,000 at any given time. We have kept a plan along with the Delhi government ready.”
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday had constituted multi-disciplinary teams to visit all private hospitals in Delhi to check the status of compliance issued by the health ministry for testing and treating Covid-19 patients and also to contain the spread of the infections in the Capital. The teams will start their visit immediately and submit their report within two days.