Meeting will assess if Capital is witnessing community spread

nNEW DELHI: Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia Monday hinted at the drafting of a strategy for Covid-19 management in Delhi in the light of a possible community spread, even as city health minister Satyendar Jain estimated that the capital is likely to witness more than 56,000 fresh Covid-19 cases by the end of the next two weeks.

In a video press briefing on Monday, Sisodia said the state disaster management authority’s (SDMA) meeting with health experts, chaired by lieutenant-governor (L-G) Anil Baijal, is scheduled for Tuesday. Sisodia will represent the government in the meeting as chief minister Arvind Kejriwal went into home isolation on Monday evening after experiencing mild fever and sore throat.

“Tuesday’s meeting will help us (Delhi government) ascertain if Delhi has entered the community spread stage of Covid-19. Our entire strategy to deal with the pandemic may change with that,” Sisodia said.

Later in the day, Jain said the current doubling rate of Covid-19 cases in Delhi is 14 days. So the national capital, as per that estimation, is likely to see over 56,000 cases by the end of the next two weeks.

“The expert committee, which was set up by us earlier, has said the doubling rate is 14-15 days. So by the end of the next two weeks, it is estimated to rise to 56,000,” the minister told reporters.

The Delhi government has so far appointed two five-member expert committees for guiding government policy on Covid-19 management.

While the first committee, headed by Dr S K Sarin, helps the government in multiple aspects, the second one, headed by Dr Mahesh Verma, is guiding the government specifically in its healthcare augmentation plan after the city recorded 1,000 fresh cases a day for the first time on May 28.

Asked about the Delhi government’s decision on Sunday to reserve beds only for residents of the city, Jain said, “Delhi and Mumbai are big metro cities which are facing the brunt of the virus. A lot of outsiders come to these cities, and had flights been grounded earlier, the infection would not have spread so much. But given the situation now, when for the past several days, over 1,000 cases are being reported every day in Delhi, city residents would need more space in hospitals.”

The government’s decision, however, was overturned by the L-G on Monday evening.