Prepared if COVID-19 spreads: CM
CM Arvind Kejriwal holds video-conference with AAP MLAS to discuss relief work
NEW DELHI:
Two more Coronavirus deaths were reported in Delhi on Friday and the total number of cases rose to 386 even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked people not to panic saying there is no community spread of the virus.
He said his government is making all arrangements to check the spread of the disease among people.
Of the 386 cases, 259 are
linked to those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz here last month, the Chief Minister’s Office tweeted.
It also said that 58 people had recent foreign travel history and 38 contracted the virus after coming in contact with them. There were 93 new positive cases. Two more patients died due to Coronavirus, taking the death toll to six, the CMO said. Of the six, three are linked to the markaz.
“The community spread of the virus is not taking place in Delhi yet and there is no need to panic as the situation is under control,” Kejriwal said during an online briefing. The government has made preparations if the virus starts spreading among people in the city, he added.
The Chief Minister
launched a Whatsapp helpline — 8800007722 for people to enquire about COVID-19, food banks, shelters among others.
Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal held a video-conference with all party MLAS on Friday to discuss the relief work being carried out by them in their constituencies in view of the Coronavirus outbreak. Kejriwal was joined by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain in addressing the party MLAS.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has 62 MLAS in the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
“The Chief Minister asked all MLAS about the progress of the relief work in their areas and how effectively it was being done,” Rajinder Nagar MLA Raghav Chadha said.
He added that all the MLAS were told about how to further improve the work being carried out by them.
“The MLAS shared their experiences. Their doubts were cleared. The Chief Minister explained all the schemes (related to relief work) of the Delhi government in details to them. They were also told what all needs to be done and how it can be done,” Chadha said.
In a statement, the AAP said Kejriwal instructed all the MLAS to ensure that the people in their areas got all the benefits of the government schemes during the ongoing 21-day lockdown in view of the Coronavirus outbreak. The party supremo also asked the lawmakers to ensure that everyone got ration from the ration shops of the Delhi government.
He also asked the MLAS to ensure that the quantity of food was sufficient and the quality was good at all the night shelters and Delhi government schools.
The legislators were also told by the Chief Minister that no one should go hungry.
“If someone needs food, the MLAS should take such a person to a food distribution centre or arrange for ration immediately,” Kejriwal told the lawmakers, according to the statement.
They were also told to inspect the ration and food distribution regularly and inform the government if any irregularity or problem came to their notice. The CM asked the MLAS to mobilise people who want to help the poor and ensure that such assistance reaches the needy. The legislators were also asked to help those who do not have ration cards with their online applications.
Kejriwal had earlier announced that people without ration cards will receive ration for free on the basis of their online applications.
Meanwhile, Lt Governor Anil Baijal asked the Delhi government to take the help of retired doctors and medical students if the national Capital witnesses a steep rise in COVID-19 cases in coming days, officials said. The Lieutenant Governor held meetings with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Police Commissioner S N Srivastava and district magistrates and deputy commissioners of police via video conference.
“In the meeting, the LG asked officials to take help of retired doctors and medical students to deal with the situation if there is sharp rise in COVID19 cases in Delhi,” officials said.
Kejriwal also held a meeting with all the eight BJP MLAS from Delhi through video conferencing. CM discussed the situation of Coronavirus outbreak in Delhi, listened to the suggestion of the MLAS and also sought cooperation from the BJP lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal, deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and experts will interact with students and answer their queries related to the virus at 3 pm on Saturday.
Food & Civil Supplies Min
ister of Delhi Imran Hussain convened a meeting of senior officers of Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation and transporters engaged by DSCSC to review the transportation plan for ensuring timely compliance of providing ration to beneficiaries, free of cost for the month of April, 2020 and timely delivery of food grains from the Food Corporation of India godowns to the various Fair Price Shops
in a smooth manner.
The government also deferred using the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium as a quarantine facility as the authorities believe the spread of the infection is under control in city.
A group of 217 Indians evacuated from Italy have been found negative for the Coronavirus after spending over a fortnight at an ITBP quarantine facility, officials said on Friday.