With the Omicron variant of coronavirus slowly spreading its tentacles in the country, a number of states enhanced surveillance to trace, track and quarantine contacts of COVID-19 positive persons while Delhi began genome sequencing of samples of all infected people and has prohibited Christmas and New Year gatherings.
The chief minister said Shah has assured him of all cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus.
The sub-group constituted by the Supreme Court to audit Oxygen consumption in hospitals in national capital during the second wave of COVID-19 said that the Delhi government 'exaggerated' the consumption of oxygen and made a claim of 1140 MT, four times higher than the formula for bed capacity requirement of 289 MT.
So far, Delhi has seen seven positive cases including a patient who died.
Several states and union territories, including Maharashtra, Punjab and Delhi, have announced closure of schools or suspended classes briefly till the COVID-19 situation is further reviewed in the wake of rising cases across the country.
A government doctor said hospitals in Delhi are wary of admitting more patients amid a serious shortage of oxygen in the city.
He, however, added that most of the private hospitals in Delhi were good and only a couple of them were indulging in such malpractice.
The national capital has been witnessing a fresh surge in coronavirus cases amid the festive season and rising air pollution. On Friday, Delhi recorded over 7,000 COVID-19 cases for the first time.
The dry-run was being conducted in state capitals in at least three session sites. Some states also included districts that are situated in difficult terrain or have poor logistical support, according to officials.
A senior Delhi government official when asked about the spiralling number of COVID-29 cases, and whether there could be another lockdown, however, said, cases have increased as testing has been ramped up, "so, it is not that cases are rising alarmingly, and hence there is no chance of going back to lockdown".
The 55-year-old minister has been diagnosed with pneumonia and his oxygen saturation level has also dipped, prompting hospital authorities to shift him to an intensive care unit. "He was brought to Max hospital in the evening and admitted in ICU," a source said.
"Lives of another 60 'sickest' patients at risk. Major crisis likely," he said.
As Delhi hospitals faced a severe oxygen crisis for the third consecutive day, the DDMA roped in three senior bureaucrats on Thursday to ensure a smooth movement of tankers and facilitate oxygen supply to the needy establishments, and directed the police to provide the security logistics from the manufacturers' sites to various health facilities in the city.
The bench said the Union Cabinet Secretary will be the convenor of the task force and may nominate an officer not below the rank of Additional Secretary to depute for him, when necessary.
All Delhi government, aided, private and schools run by civic bodies will remain shut, said Sisodia.
While the numbers of fresh COVID cases and active cases are going up, the administration is focussing on testing, contact-tracing and treatment.
Several Delhi hospitals treating Covid-19 patients faced a major medical oxygen crisis with their depleting stock for the second consecutive day, prompting the Centre to increase the city's quota to 480 metric tonnes against the AAP dispensation's demand of 700 MT.
Kejriwal will also interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his counterparts including West Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka, where the coronavirus cases are on a much higher side, on June 17.
Delhi government authorities on Tuesday issued an order asking luxury Taj Mansingh Hotel to have its rooms and premises be placed at the disposal of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for using it as an attached COVID-19 facility.
Shaking Delhi's spirit and soul, an unimaginable tragedy is unfolding at New Delhi's crematoriums struggling to cope with the deluge of the dead arriving at frightening pace.
The districts are Gondia (Maharashtra), Raj Nand Gaon (Chhattisgarh), Davangiri (Karnataka), South Goa, Wayanad and Kottayam (Kerala), West Imphal (Manipur), Rajouri (J&K), Aizwal West (Mizoram), Mahe in Puducherry, SBS Nagar in Punjab, Patna, Nalanda and Munger in Bihar, Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Panipat, Rohtak and Sirsa in Haryana, Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand and Bhadradari Kothagudem in Telangana.
A coronavirus positive woman allegedly managed to give the slip to authorities in New Delhi after her arrival from London and reached Andhra Pradesh by train only to be picked up by authorities and admitted to a hospital.
With final preparations underway and the vaccine set to arrive in the national capital in the next couple of days, Rohit Datta, who was the first person to be diagnosed with coronavirus infection on March 1, said "it feels surreal".
'On the direction of the home ministry, the Delhi Police has put chief minister Arvind Kejriwal under house arrest ever since he visited farmers at Singhu Border'
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated and vaccination of the frontline workers started from February 2.
Moulana Yusuf Tootla, 80, attended the March 1-15 Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the Nizmuddin area, that has emerged as the epicentre for the spread of the coronavirus in different parts of India and abroad after thousands of people took part in it.
Congratulatory messages poured in for 37-year-old Gambhir from fellow cricketers on social media.
Delhi recorded 954 cases on Monday, according to a health department bulletin. The bulletin said the number of tests conducted too was the lowest in July.
Resident doctors of three North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC)-run hospitals are currently holding an agitating seeking release of their salaries due for the last three months.
According to SOP, those testing positive will be isolated in a separate unit of an institutional facility.
The National Testing Agency announced that the JEE (Main) will be held from September 1 to 6 and NEET (UG) on September 13 after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE.
There are 1,53,106 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), while 1,69,797 people have recovered and a patient has migrated, according to the ministry data updated in the morning.
Farmer leaders on Monday started their day-long hunger strike against the Centre's new farm laws and said protests will be held at all district headquarters later in the day, even as more people are expected to join the ongoing agitation at Delhi border points.
The doctors have also demanded enhanced security outside and within the hospitals where the Markaz evacuees have been admitted. A doctor said some patients evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz, the headquarters of Tabligh-e-Jamaat in south Delhi, don't follow instructions from doctors and are reluctant to take medicines.
The businessman, who travelled to Delhi to attend a Tablighi Jamaat congregation, died on March 26 in a Srinagar hospital, 19 days after he set off for the national capital. He could have infected scores of people during his travels and about 300 people have been put under quarantine because of him, officials said.
Markaz Nizamuddin, which is the international headquarters of Tabilghi Jamaat for close to 100 years, offered its premises for setting up a quarantine facility.
The chief minister said the Delhi government was implementing from November 19 its decision to reserve 80 per cent of ICU beds in private hospitals for COVID-19 patients.
Officials from the Centre say there is no community transmission of COVID-19 in Delhi, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia asserted on Tuesday, and estimated that there might be 5.5 lakh coronavirus cases in the city by July 31. Delhi will need 80,000 beds by July end, he told reporters after a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). The meeting was chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal who is also chairperson of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.
He said if people from other cities come to Delhi for specific surgeries, they will be provided treatment at private hospitals. "Delhi's health infrastructure is needed to tackle the coronavirus crisis at the moment," the chief minister said.
Shah also struck a placatory tone in his interview and said that there was coordination between the Centre and the state in tackling Covid in Delhi.
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