Delhi: Center and State Gov plan new measures to tackle surge in covid cases

Last updated on February 21st, 2023 at 11:36 am

New measures to tackle surge in Decovid cases: Delhi is fighting both toxic air and a record spike in the covid cases. Each year as winter approaches smog fills the Delhi sky. India has recorded more than 8.7 million the coronavirus cases, second in number to the United States. While new cases have fallen sharply since September in India, the Capital is yet again facing a surge. 

A meeting was held on Sunday between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, health ministers, Delhi’s lieutenant governor, and high ranking representatives from Niti Aayog, ICMR, and AIIMS. They decided to adopt a 12-point plan toward tackling Covid-19 in the Capital. 

The new plan will include increasing of ICU beds, oxygen cylinders, clinical staff, and twofold Covid testing in the city and observing individuals in-home quarantine. After the meeting, Delhi CM Kejriwal stated that the Center will make plans for 750 hospital beds with all the facility of ICU for Covid patients in Delhi will be provided. 

Kejriwal in a press briefing stated that the Center has guaranteed that 750 ICU beds will be made accessible at the DRDO center. There are plans to expand the number of tests from the current 60,000 every day to 1 lakh, he added.

Experts had predicted that the Covid-19 cases could multiply in winter, festivity, pollution, and people not maintaining social distancing during the Diwali celebration. All famous Delhi markets were packed with the crowd during the festive season.

Kejriwal had launched an anti-air pollution campaign called ‘Yudh Pradushan Ke Virudh’ on Oct 5, the ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’ campaign on Oct 16 in order to contain the virus from spreading. 

He ordered a total ban on the selling, buying, and bursting of firecrackers, including the green crackers during this Diwali, which they had approved for before. The crackers ban will be in place from 7 to 30 November.

Kolkatta, Odisha, Maharashtra, Rajasthan followed similar measures. While Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have reported a ban on selling and purchasing of imported firecrackers this Diwali. The neighboring areas near Delhi such as Noida, Ghaziabad, and Faridabad burst crackers throughout the night on Diwali, and many children continued burning crackers the following consecutive night as well.

However, a big relief from the toxic air came when generous showers of rain fell on Sunday evening in the Delhi-NCR region. Delhi air pollution topped on Sunday, a day after Diwali, which witnessed the burning of crackers widely across the national capital region despite all the requests.

The air pollution and the AQI levels dipped drastically on Sunday due to rain. Moreover, the Monday morning Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded below 200 as the sky cleared.

The city is experiencing over 7,000 cases every day, and that figure is expected to climb. More than 100 coronavirus deaths were recorded in Delhi on Thursday. However, plans are underway to increase the covid ICU beds and ventilators in the coming days.

Every year when temperatures fall and wind speeds decrease, toxic air smog settles over the Delhi Capital. Pollution from heavy traffic, construction dirt, industrial smoke, and burning of crops by neighboring states all add to the toxic air blend. The impact of breathing this dangerous air worsens the health of asthma patients and this time around in 2020 it is adding to the already growing coronavirus crisis.

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