NEW DELHI: Ruling out possibilities of imposing another lockdown in the national capital owing to the constant surge in Covid-19 cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that the impact of the second wave is less serious than the previous ones. Kejriwal added that people will be consulted if a lockdown has to be put in place.
“The Delhi government is not planning any lockdown in the wake of the fourth wave of coronavirus in the national capital. If needed, the government will do it after due consultation with the public,” said the chief minister, while addressing a digital press conference.
Saying that speeding up the vaccination process is important, Kejriwal urged the Central government to open it up for everyone instead of keeping it restricted to specific age groups. “The Centre should allow states to vaccinate everyone on a war footing... We need to involve non-healthcare facilities in the inoculation drive.
However, if non-health facilities are not allowed to vaccinate people, then Delhi might not be able to go beyond a certain number,” he noted. With the rising count of new infections, Kejriwal added that the state is prioritising a few aspects — more testing, isolating people to stop further spread, proper hospital management (addition of beds, ICU, ventilators) and focus on increasing vaccination.
A meeting was held with State Health Minister Satyendar Jain along with other officials, where provisions for additional requirements in or hospitals and the need to get admitted were looked upon.