Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that the national capital is witnessing a decline in daily coronavirus cases. He said the number of fresh COVID-19 cases has come down to around 8,500 and the positivity rate has dipped to around 12%.
In a virtual press conference, Kejriwal also said that the Delhi government will extend financial help to families which have lost their earning members to the coronavirus and also bear the cost of education and upbringing of children orphaned by the pandemic.
But the fight against the coronavirus has not ended and there is no room for leniency, the chief minister said in an online press conference.
"I know many children who have lost both their parents. I want to tell them that I am still there. Do not consider yourself an orphan. The government will take care of their studies and upbringing," Kejriwal said.
"I know elderly citizens who have lost their children. They depended on their earnings. I want to tell them that their son (Kejriwal) is alive. The government will help all such families who have lost their earning members," the chief minister said.
Around 3,000 beds for coronavirus patients have become available in the last 10 days. However, ICU beds remain almost full, Kejriwal said.
“We have been working in this direction. Around 1,200 more ICU beds are being prepared. More oxygen beds are being added and oxygen cylinders being procured," he said.
"We have to take the number of cases to zero. We cannot be at ease... have to strictly follow the lockdown," the chief minister said.
The national capital had reported 10,489 new cases and 308 more fatalities on Thursday while the positivity rate stood at 14.24 per cent, according to the health department said.
Meanwhile, amid the worrying shortage of COVID-19 vaccines across the country, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said if there is a need to float a global tender, it should be done by the Central government.
"Through a global tender, we can only procure Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V vaccines in the country. If there is a need for a global tender then it should be done by the Central government," Jain said.
Over the last few days, state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), among others, have spoken of floating global tenders amid the shortage of vaccine and rising COVID-19 cases.
The minister said if all states issued separate global tenders, vaccine companies would give different prices to each state based on negotiation and states will start competing with each other.
"The country has at least 30 companies that can manufacture enough for the whole country. The Centre is telling us that we have sent our country's vaccines abroad, now we have to buy vaccines from outside. This is very strange," he said.
