CM Kejriwal gears up for 'third wave' of COVID-19 infection in Delhi

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday sounded the alarm bells saying there is a “third wave” of COVID-19 outbreak in the capital.

Anticipating a surge in cases, the Delhi government has decided to move the Supreme Court (SC) to vacate the stay imposed by the Delhi high court (HC) on Delhi administration’s order of reserving 80% of the intensive care unit (ICU) beds for Covid-19 patients in 33 private hospitals.

Kejriwal’s rush to the Supreme Court is significant because the Delhi government had earlier stated that it would wait for a week to decide whether a third wave has hit the national capital.

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The CM’s statement can be read in the backdrop of 6,725 new COVID-19 cases in the capital on Tuesday. Delhi’s overall tally has gone past 400,000 now. A few days back, the daily positive count had come down to the 3,000 levels.

“I want to inform the public that Delhi is reporting a surge in COVID-19 cases over the past few days. I would call this a third wave of the pandemic in the city because in the end of September and the beginning of October, daily Covid-19 cases had started to drop below 3,000,” Kejriwal told media persons at Hiranki village, where he visited to check the effectiveness of the bio-decomposing process of converting stubble into manure.

Kejriwal urged Delhiites not to panic but exercise caution. “At present, there is no scarcity of COVID-19 beds in Delhi. There is no scarcity of any form of health infrastructure in the national capital. It has come to our notice that in big private hospitals, only a few ICU beds with ventilators are lying vacant. The issue will be resolved in a day or two once the SC vacates the stay by the HC,” Kejriwal said.

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The Delhi government would take a call on Thursday whether firecrackers would be allowed this Diwali, which falls on November 14.

The government fears a third wave of infections because SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is spreading at an unprecedented rate amid the festive season and growing pollution due to stubble burning in neighbouring Haryana, Punjab and parts of western Uttar Pradesh (UP) . Typically, a rising positivity rate suggests an inadequate number of tests.