NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday laid out a ‘5T’ or five-point action plan to prepare Delhi to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Elaborating on the plan, he said, “It includes five Ts — testing, tracing, treatment, team-work and tracking and monitoring.” Under first ‘T’, the government will conduct one lakh random rapid anti-body tests in the hotspots.
The results of anti-body tests, similar to other blood tests, are available in 15-30 minutes. “We have observed that the nations where testing was not done, were not able to contain the outbreak. Maximum testing enables us to know the actual stats affected by corona. South Korea, for instance, increased its testing capacity so that it can quarantine and treat infected people, and control further spread of the virus,” the CM said.The two emerging hotspots — Nizamuddin and Dilshad Garden areas — will be the first where every household will be tested.“We have ordered testing for around 50,000 people, and we have also ordered rapid testing rounds for 1 lakh people, which will begin from Friday,” added Kejriwal.
The CM will monitor the progress of all the other aspects. Addressing a press conference via video link, he said the Delhi government will take over private hospitals and 12,000 rooms of hotels in a phased manner if COVID-19 cases constantly rise and reach up to active 30,000 cases in the city. The chief minister said that the government has earmarked 400 beds in three private hospitals — Max Saket (318 beds), Apollo (50 beds) and Gangaram Colemet (42 beds).