Covid alert: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal requests people to take precautionary dose

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal takes stock of the situation amid rising COVID cases in certain countries across the world

NEW DELHI | Updated: 22 December, 2022 11:49 pm IST
Bibhav Kumar is a close aide of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday requested people get the precautionary doses as soon as possible, as only 24 per cent of eligible people in Delhi have taken the third dose so far.

The request came soon after a COVID review meeting called by CM with health officials at his home on Thursday evening. The meeting was held after the central government’s alert over the deteriorating COVID situation in China.

Delhi CM said there was no need to panic as no case of the B4.7 variant of Corona has been in Delhi. As of now, a total of 4 cases have been detected, 3 in Gujarat and one in Maharashtra. CM Kejriwal, on the other hand, stated that the government is prepared to deal with the situation if the number of COVID cases increases in the coming days.

“If the need arises, we can test up to one lakh people daily. Right now, we have 8,000 beds allotted for Corona. There were 25000 beds at the previous peak; now we are preparing for 36000 beds. At present, we have 6,000 reserve oxygen cylinders and 15 oxygen tankers, as well as a capacity to store 928 metric tonnes of oxygen,” said Kejriwal.

He further said that in Delhi, almost 100 per cent of people have gotten the first and second doses, but only 24 per cent of people have gotten their precautionary dose. “With folded hands, I request all the people of Delhi to get their precaution dose administered as soon as they can,” he said.

The Delhi government will soon start door-to-door checks to give the third dose as well, he added.

During the meeting, the CM also issued instructions to send all positive cases for genome sequencing, and increase precautionary dose coverage and manpower in hospitals. He directed officials to obtain prior approval for the procurement of essential items and inspect machines in all hospitals.

The CM has issued directions to increase the number of oxygen cylinders as per the requirements of the situation so that there is no shortage during an emergency.

As of December 21, 2022, Delhi has 928.58MT of liquid medical oxygen (LMO). Additionally, there is a 442MT buffer of LMO in 8 reserve storage tanks across the state. Currently, 224.89MT of LMO is stored in oxygen cylinders at medical institutions. The government has 6,000 additional oxygen cylinders in its reserve, he said.

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