Delhi gears up to handle 1 lakh daily cases amid Omicron scare

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the national capital is gearing up to handle up to 1 lakh Covid cases daily if the situation arises.

“The government’s current capacity is to handle 1,000 cases daily but we are extending the capacity to 1 lakh everyday in view of the growing Omicron scare,” Kejriwal said at a virtual press conference here.

The government will also increase the daily Covid testing capacity from around 60,000 to 70,000 at present, to 3 lakh per day, while strengthening the home isolation module to handle 1 lakh positive cases daily.

“As soon as someone tests positive, a phone call will be made to the person and the next day, a medical team will visit the person to provide him a kit containing medicines and other items. The patients in home isolation will be counselled by the doctors for 10 days,” the Chief Minister said.

Kejriwal said the new Omicron variant is characterised by a fast spread and mild infection. “Since Omicron infection does not require hospitalisation in most cases, the home-isolation module is being strengthened in the city,” he said, adding: “If there are symptoms, we will try to treat patients at home in their comfort. We are developing a strong home-isolation model.”

Talking about the oxygen crisis during the last Covid surge, he said that all arrangements have been made for oxygen, and the stock of medicine is being prepared for two months.

However, he also underlined that there will not be surge of cases in the national capital as the sero-survey report shows over 95 per cent prevalence of antibodies — which means people have already been infected with Covid, and they have developed antibodies.

The Chief Minister said that 99 per cent of the people have got the first dose of Covid vaccine in the city. – IANS