Delhi: One more case as 69-year-old mother of fifth victim tests positive, taken to RML

On Thursday, a meeting of all heads of hospitals was called by the Health Secretary to review the status of initiating sample collection and isolation beds in 34 hospitals, and testing facilities in three medical colleges for suspected cases.

The collection facility has been initiated in six hospitals (five Delhi government and one North MCD). The hospitals with the collection facility are Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalya, Babu Jagjivan Ram and Hindu Rao hospitals.

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Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has written a letter to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, requesting him to strengthen the number of testing laboratories in Delhi. “I have written a letter to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to increase and strengthen testing facilities. We have also requested to open testing laboratories in four Delhi government hospitals and other private hospitals, along with Lady Hardinge Hospital, where the testing laboratory was to become operational. Private hospitals should also be permitted to conduct tests because it is important for every hospital to have a testing lab. We need more laboratories to conduct quick tests and to also contain the panic,” he said.

The government has so far traced 1,410 contacts of the six confirmed cases in Delhi. Till date, 1,63,835 passengers from Covid-19 affected countries have been screened at the Delhi Airport and placed under surveillance. On Thursday, 4,952 passengers were screened at the airport.

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Meanwhile, DCP (North) Monika Bhardwaj said that a senior police officer held a meeting with wholesale dealers of medical equipment, such as sanitisers and masks, in Kotwali Thursday.

She said, “We wanted to make sure that no black marketing of masks and sanitisers is done.” She said that wholesalers have been asked to inform police if they notice such activities.

Another senior IPS officer said, “Police personnel have been asked to wash their hands regularly and use sanitisers… they have also been asked to sensitise people about coronavirus.”