Shah for unified COVID-19 strategy in Delhi-NCR; 6 lakh testing target for Delhi
New Delhi, Jun 18 () Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday emphasised on the need to have a unified strategy in the Delhi-NCR region to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and also favoured conducting COVID-19 tests through the new Rapid Antigen method to ramp up testing capacity.
Shah, who has been proactively monitoring the COVID-19 situation in the national capital, chaired another meeting of officials during which he said that keeping in view the close knit urban structure of the NCR region, it is necessary for all authorities concerned in Delhi and the NCR region to come together to tackle the virus.
The NCR region comprises Noida and Ghaziabad of Uttar Pradesh, Gurgaon and Faridabad of Haryana and Alwar and Bharatpur of Rajasthan.
During the meeting, Shah favoured that Rapid Antigen method of tests for checking the pandemic should be started soon as it has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
"It will ramp up testing capacity, and will help in early diagnosis and early treatment," Shah was quoted by an official release as saying.
Calling for a "mission mode" approach to fight the pandemic, Shah said that in order to control the virus, there is a need to test more and it is also necessary to identify and treat those who are diagnosed as positive.
Shah held a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Secretaries of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and other senior officers from Delhi-NCR to review the coronavirus pandemic in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
After the meeting, Shah's junior minister, G Kishan Reddy, said the Centre is planning to conduct six lakh rapid antigen COVID-19 tests in Delhi at 169 new facilities, where 50,000 kits have already been supplied.
He also said the central government is going to provide 500 additional ventilators and 650 ambulances to hospitals in Delhi, which has seen a spike in number of coronavirus cases over the past few days.
"From today onwards, 169 testing centres will be operational in Delhi where rapid antigen methodology will be used. We have targeted to conduct six lakh tests. People living in containment zones and relatives of the positive cases can go for test at any of these centres," Reddy told reporters here.
The Union Minister of State for Home also said that as of now 50,000 rapid testing kits procured from South Korea have been sent to these 169 testing centres.
He said Delhi currently has 431 ventilators and the central government will provide 500 more to hospitals in the city. Similarly, the Centre will provide 650 ambulances to add to the 350 that the city already has, he said.
Shah also directed officials from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to submit information about COVID-19 beds, ventilators, oxygen cylinders, ICU and ambulances available with them and their plan to augment these resources by July 15 to the Union Home Ministry so that a common strategy can be devised in the National Capital Region (NCR) in the battle against the virus.
After the meeting, Shah tweeted in Hindi: "In view of the structure of Delhi-NCR region, all concerned bodies need to unite and work on a common strategy against the coronavirus pandemic. In this context, I met the Delhi Chief Minister and senior officials of the Centre and Delhi-NCR today to discuss how to evolve a strategy as soon as possible".
The home minister also suggested that the NCR districts can consider adopting Rs 2,400 charge fixed for COVID-19 test in Delhi, besides the new rapid antigen methodology being implemented in the national capital from Thursday.
A home ministry statement later said Shah also told the meeting that an expert committee decided the rates for COVID-19 beds and treatment in Delhi, and these could be applied to hospitals in the NCR cities after consultations.
Shah assured the NCR districts that the central government will provide all support to them in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic, another source said.
Authorities in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi imposed border restrictions on different times during the COVID-19 lockdown, leading to inconvenience to many and complaints about difficulty in accessing medical services during the pandemic.
The home ministry on Wednesday had said that a total of 16,618 test samples were collected in Delhi on June 15 and 16, while till June 14, the daily collection varied between 4,000-4,500.
In order to improve contact-mapping in containment zones in the city, health surveys have been started and out of a total population of 2,30,466 in 242 containment zones, 1,77,692 people were surveyed between June 15 and 16. The remaining will be covered by June 20, it had said.
Shah has held a series of meetings with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Kejriwal and senior officials in last four days to strengthen the health infrastructure in Delhi.
He also visited the national capital's LNJP Hospital on Monday and took stock of its healthcare facilities and gave necessary instructions for improvement.
The central government is also targeting to conduct six lakh COVID-19 tests in Delhi through the new rapid antigen methodology in 169 new facilities being set up in the capital for which 50,000 kits have been made available already.
On June 12, the Supreme Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to explain the guidelines issued by the Noida administration on institutional quarantine, observing they are not in "conformity" with the national guidelines.
"There cannot be a guideline contrary to the national guidelines," the court had said, adding, that any directive contrary to the national or state guidelines might lead to chaos.
On June 4, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to convene a meeting of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for easing interstate movement at all borders in the NCR.
It also observed that there should be a consistent policy in this regard for the NCR.
The Centre informed the apex court that the union home secretary had convened a joint meeting on June 9 with chief secretaries of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to deal with the issue and now there was no barrier on these borders.
India's total COVID-19 cases reached 3,66,946 on Thursday morning, while the death toll climbed to 12,237.
The number of active cases stands at 1,60,384 while 1,94,324 people have recovered, thus, around 52.95 per cent patients have recovered so far. ACB SKL ZMN