SISODIA TAKES CHARGE OF HEALTH DEPT
VISITS COVID-19 FACILITY WITH CM | INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ICU BEDS: KEJRIWAL
NEW DELHI: As Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday took charge of yet another ministry as his colleague Satyendar Jain was diagnosed with COVID-19, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Sisodia visited the 10,000 bedded COVID-19 facility being built at the South Delhi Campus of the Radha Soami Sat Sang Beas. This was Sisodia’s first visit to a healthcare facility, after taking charge of the Health Department.
While Jain is being treated for the contagious disease at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, officials here said he will continue to be a Minister in the Delhi Cabinet without a portfolio till the time he recovers from the virus.
At the Radha Soami Sat Sang Beas facility, CM Kejriwal said patients with only mild symptoms or asymptomatic patients will be treated at this facility. “Generally, such patients can be treated at home but in many cases, people do not have much space in their homes. There are no separate toilets in the homes of poor people, and so it would serve them better if we keep them in isolation centres. The Delhi government follows up with the people who stay in home isolation every day regarding their health situation.” “We may need more ICU beds in coming days. Arrangements are being made to increase ICU beds in the hospitals,” he told reporters after visiting the Radha Soami Satsang Beas centre in Chhatarpur to review COVID-19 preparations.
However, news of Jain testing positive had put some of the top leaders in Delhi at risk. He had recently attended an intensive review meeting, which was attended by the CM, Sisodia, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, LG Anil Baijal and top bureaucrats in both the Central and Delhi governments. While Jain is currently on oxygen and in a stable condition, contact tracing is underway. Meanwhile, AAP MLA Atishi and two other leaders of the party Akshay Marathe, advisor to the CM and Abhinandita Dayal Mathur, advisor to the Deputy CM also tested positive for the viral disease on Wednesday. All three have been recommended home isolation by doctors and contact tracing has been initiated, said a Delhi government official.
He also added that the Deputy CM’S team and other officials have also been asked to get tested and their offices have been sanitised as well.