L-G: Identify potential ‘super-spreader’ areas
Implement lockdown strictly, officials told
New Delhi, May 4: In view of a rapid surge in coronavirus cases in Delhi, Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Tuesday directed district magistrates and DCPs to conduct intensive survey in their areas and identify potential “super-spreader” sites.
In his letters to divisional commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar and police commissioner S.N. Srivastava, Baijal directed them to take all-out measures for strict enforcement of the ongoing lockdown in the national capital.
The lieutenant governor also asked them to review Covid-19 situation on a daily basis and submit a consolidated report to him by 7 pm every day.
In view of over 300 inmates testing positive for Covid-19 so far in Delhi jails, a meeting of the high powered committee, under the chairmanship of a Delhi High Court judge, was held on Tuesday to discuss how prisons in the national capital can be decongested like last year, sources said.
According to the sources, the meeting was chaired by High Court judge Justice Vipin Sanghi and attended by the Principal Secretary Home, Delhi government and Director General (Prisons).
"The committee will look into the prospects of releasing certain categories of prisoners by granting interim bail and emergency parole like it was done last year to ease the congestion in Delhi Prisons in view of the spiralling coronavirus case here," sources told PTI.
The under-trial prisoners can be released on interim bail, while convicts can be release on emergency parole, officials said.
Till April 29, 303 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus since March 2021. Of them, 33 recovered, four died while there are 266 active cases.
A total of 125 prison staff members have tested positive for the virus since March this year. Eight have recovered and 117 are still under treatment.
The first coronavirus infection among inmates was reported in Rohini Jail on May 13, 2020.
The installation of medical oxygen plants at the AIIMS and the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital here has already started, according to the Union health ministry. With the piping connection and testing ensured through a dry run scheduled for Wednesday, the two plants will start functioning latest by Wednesday evening, it said.
In view of an unprecedented surge in the number of daily Covid-19 cases, the requirement of oxygen, oxygen-supported beds and ICU beds has increased manifold. The matter of ensuring adequate and uninterrupted supply of oxygen for an effective clinical management of the severe Covid19
patients receiving medical care in the central government hospitals in New Delhi was reviewed by Union health minister Harsh Vardhan at a highlevel meeting on April 23.
The installation work has commenced at AIIMS and RML Hospital on a war footing. These medical oxygen plants are based on the indigenous Zeolite technology and designed for a flow rate of 1,000 litres per minute (LPM).
The system caters to 190 patients at a flow rate of 5 LPM or charge 195 cylinders per day. The medical oxygen plant (MOP) technology has been developed by the DRDO based on the on-board oxygen generation for LCA, Tejas. These plants will overcome the logistics issues of oxygen transportation and help the COVID-19 patients in an emergency.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has also ordered 120 medical oxygen plants through its industries, the statement said. India has been leading the fight against the coronavirus pandemic through a "whole of government" and "whole of society" approach, where several ministries, departments and organisations of the central government are collaborating with the states and Union territories to overcome the challenge.