NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Thursday requested the Centre to increase the number of testing laboratories for COVID-19 in the national capital as the city reported its sixth case of coronavirus.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain wrote to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan requesting him to increase the number of testing labs for COVID-19 in the city.
In Delhi, the facility of coronavirus sample testing has been made available at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the National Centre for Disease Control. “Written a letter to @drharshvardhan requesting to increase lab testing facilities for COVID-19 in Delhi,” Jain tweeted.
Talking to reporters after a high-level meeting attended by Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and top officials, Jain said private hospitals should also be permitted to conduct COVID-19 tests because it is important for every hospital to have a testing lab. He also called for opening testing laboratories in four Delhi government hospitals along with the 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 testing laboratories to conduct quick tests and contain the panic around the whole situation. The Delhi government is fully prepared to handle the crisis,” Jain asserted. The total number of coronavirus patients in the country has risen to 74 with 14 fresh cases being reported on Thursday.
500Beds available
6cases from city
25designated hospitals
Government-run
Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Lala Bahadur Shashtri Hospital, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Chacha Nehru Hospital, Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital, Maharishi Balmiki Hospital, Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital, Aruna Asif Ali Hospital, Dr. Ran Manohar Lohia Hospital, Sucheta Kriplani Hospital LHMC, Safdarjung Hospital, Airport Hospital, Hindu Rao Hospital, AIIMS, Dr. Hedgewar Arogya Sansthan, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital
Private
Action Balaji Hospital, Apollo Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, St. Stephen’s Hospital, Max Super Specialty Hospital, BLK Hospital
Traffic personnel given masks, gloves
The Delhi Traffic Police has provided adequate masks and gloves to its personnel and issued special instructions on dealing with motorists in view of the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Thursday. They have also been provided extra straws to be used with breath analysers during alcohol test. The traffic police personnel use masks due to pollution. After the outbreak of coronavirus, they have been told strictly to use masks during public interaction, they said.