Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting through video conferencing (VC) to review the preparedness for prevention and control of COVID-19 in Delhi. 

He was joined by Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MoS (HFW); Anil Baijal, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi; and Satyendra Jain, Health Minister of Delhi.

“As the number of cases and fatality rises in Delhi, it needs to ramp up testing coupled with aggressive surveillance, contact tracing and stringent containment and perimeter control activities," Vardhan said in the meeting. 

As all districts of UT of Delhi are now affected by COVID-19, Dr Harsh Vardhan pointed out that “the rising cases, high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts are worrisome”.  

While the average testing/million population in Delhi was 2018, some districts such as north east (517 tests/million population) and south east (506 tests/million population) were far below. While the UT’s positivity rate of last week was 25.7%, several districts reported figures above 38%, he said. 

The high rate of infection in the health care workers was also serious issue, he added. It indicates poor infection prevention control practices in health care settings and needs to be attended to on priority, he pointed out.

The Union Minister also underscored the immediate need and importance of scaling up of testing with health infrastructure enhancements along with better clinical management of the COVID-19 cases for effective case management and reduction of fatality rate. He also pointed out that bed availability was to be rapidly increased in view of the current rapid rise of cases along with avoiding unnecessary delay in the admission of cases. 

“As a significant proportion are on home isolation, all efforts for timely response in terms of testing, triaging and shifting of patients to the required level of Dedicated COVID facility is important to avoid mortality," he stated. 

The elderly and vulnerable population, such as those with underlying co-morbidities, need to be identified and protected, he said, adding that provisioning of institutional quarantine to vulnerable populations in large clusters where home isolation is not deemed effective, needs attention too.

After detailed discussion with the DMs, Commissioners and Mayors of Delhi, Harsh Vardhan said that while some issues such as the density of population in many containment zones did pose a serious challenge to the collective efforts of the administration, it was important to pool in resources and experiences for a convergent action, he advised. 

“This is a collective battle, and we are here to support Delhi in its efforts”, he stated.

The DMs and officials of Municipal Corporations briefed on the steps being taken in their area to contain COVID-19. They discussed issues related to perimeter control in containment zones, timely identification and classification of cases as the stigma associated with COVID-19 stopped people from reporting symptoms or cases. They also highlighted that people seem to be getting complacent with following the norms regarding physical distancing during the Unlock 1.0 period. This was a major factor contributing to the new surge in cases, they stated.

While appreciating the efforts of the frontline workers, administration and other COVID warriors, Dr Harsh Vardhan advised that now more than ever, was the need for following norms and protocols related to physical distancing, hand and respiratory hygiene and maintaining sanitation in our surroundings. 

Preeti Sudan, Union Health Secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, OSD (MoHFW), Arti Ahuja, Additional Secretary (Health), Dr SK Singh, Director (NCDC), DMs of all districts of Delhi, Commissioners of three Municipal Corporations of Delhi and representatives of NDMC and other officials of the Delhi Government participated in the review meeting.