Raising alarm that a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage in hospitals during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the Centre should take over all oxygen plants through the Army. In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 situation, Kejriwal requested him to direct chief ministers of all states to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to the national capital. People in major pain due to oxygen shortage. We fear a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage and we will never be able to forgive ourselves. I request you with folded hands to direct all CMs to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi, he said during the meeting.
The Delhi government is making efforts to airlift its enhanced quota of oxygen supply from Odisha, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Thursday, as several city hospitals reported shortage of oxygen amid rising cases of coronavirus. Kejriwal thanked the Centre and the High Court for their efforts towards raising Delhi s oxygen quota for treating COVID 19 patients, and said the supplies have started reaching the national capital. He said a major chunk of the freshly allotted quota of oxygen to Delhi comes from Odisha, which is hundreds of kilometres away, and the Delhi government is planning to airlift it to save time at this critical juncture in the fight against coronavirus.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to hold a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal today at 11 am to review the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the national capital. In view of the spread of Covid-19 infection, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will discuss the situation with Lieutenant Governor at 11 am on Thursday, the Chief Minister s Office tweeted on Wednesday. It said that the Chief Minister will also hold a meeting with Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Chief Secretary and other senior officials on the coronavirus situation in Delhi at 12 noon. The COVID-19 situation in the national capital continues to worsen as the city registered the highest single-day spike of 17,282 fresh COVID-19 infections and 104 related deaths on Wednesday.
As per a Local Circles survey, 16 per cent residents of Delhi were in support of lockdown at the end of March and the number of people supporting it has risen by 275 per cent in less than three weeks. Covid-19 cases are rising exponentially amid the SARS-COV-2 variant propagating in Delhi with the city registering a 4,200 per cent increase in its daily caseload within the last 30 days. On March 15th, the city had 400 Covid cases which on April 14th had gone up to 17,282. The positivity rate is currently at 15.92 per cent, with 7,67,438 positive cases, which is the highest ever in the state. Notably, 91.92 per cent of ventilator beds are currently occupied, with only 99 beds now available from the total 1,226 beds.
The Covid-19 situation in Delhi is “very serious” with 10,732 cases of infection reported in the last 24 hours, the highest since the pandemic began, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday as he issued a stark warning do not step out of homes unless it is urgent. “The fourth wave is more dangerous than the previous wave. The government is closely monitoring the situation,” he told a press conference. In just a few weeks, Delhi has gone from near-normalcy with less than 100 cases reported on February 16 to an exploding pandemic, a grim reminder that the virus is continuing to extract its toll.