New Delhi: Delhi's Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday (June 13) claimed the COVID-19 testing rate in the neighbouring states Uttar Pradesh and Haryana is ten times less than the national capital.
Satyendar Jain said, "The testing rate in UP and Haryana is ten times less than Delhi. Accordingly, if the testing rate will be this less, the COVID-19 cases will also be ten times less than Delhi."
In a press briefing on Saturday, Delhi's health minister informed the government is working as per the predictions made by the experts.
As per the predictions, all the preparations including arrangements of beds and ventilators required by June 30, will be done by June 20 itself. The preparations required to be done by July 15 will be done by June 30."
He added, "Stadiums, banquet halls, community halls, and schools will be converted COVID care centres and beds will be arranged there. All the information will be shared as soon as the preparations start taking place.”
On being asked about whether the Delhi government will cap the treatment charges in private hospitals, Satyendar Jain said, "All the hospitals have been asked to share the rates that they are charging for COVID treatments. We will decide on what to do after observing every hospital."
He said, "The COVID-19 cases are increasing nation-wide and also in Delhi. We should not just rely on which state or country has more cases and which state or country has fewer cases because the cases are bound to rise where they are less for now."
"At one point, people were saying that the US, Italy, UK, and other nations have more cases, but there are lesser cases in India. But the cases in India have also increased now. Similarly, we have states with more cases and states with lesser cases in India because the timeline when the cases will increase is different."
He added, "The city of Delhi is 10-12 days behind the city of Mumbai, and similarly, some cities may be behind Delhi in this context. Around 100 years ago in 1918, a virus known as Spanish Flu of spread across the world, and now coronavirus is spreading rapidly. No disease of this intensity has ever hit the humankind before."
Satyendar Jain stated the doubling rate of the virus is between 13-14 days, and if we see the base right now, there are 37,000 cases in Delhi, and in the next 10-15 days, the cases will increase by further 37,000.
"The recovery rate is such that around 97-98 people recover out of 100 people. It takes around 14-15 days for a patient to recover from the coronavirus," he said.
He also commented on the death figures being claimed by the MCDs and said that they shall give the information on the casualties to the Delhi government, rather than sending out to media.
"I was reading in the newspaper, that the MCD has said that the death rate has decreased as compared to the previous years, and now they are giving out proofs regarding death numbers of the Corona patients. If the MCDs have the details of the casualties, they should send it to the Delhi government rather than sending it out to the media. All deaths are counted as per the reports received from all the hospitals."
On the criticism of the Delhi government by the apex court, Satyendar Jain said that it can be seen as a complaint and not as a remark or a judgment of the SC.
"However, the Delhi government will act to resolve it."
On the visuals of the LNJP treatment facilities, Satyendra Jain said, "I would like to tell all the journalists questioning on this matter to visit and see for themselves the conditions of the treatment. These allegations meted out against LNJP have been done out of motivation and are completely baseless. A video was captured by a contractual staff and he has been suspended."
He further stated, "All the states have death audit committees, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, and all other states. Some of them have been comprised at district levels. The work of death audit committee os not to fabricate the data of deaths. As and when they receive the death count, they are reported and released. There may be a delay in obtaining the data, but there is no delay in the committee's part in releasing it."
"All wards of the hospitals have different facilities including ICUs, High-dependency Units (HDUs), etc. Nurses and doctors are posted ward-wise and they are responsible for their wards. Food arrangements such as breakfast, lunch dinner and tea are made for the patients. The patient is given all facilities and proper arrangements for their stay are made," he said on the facilities provided in the hospitals.
On whether the testing has decreased in Delhi, Satyendar Jain said, "The ICMR guidelines need to be altered for testing to increase. Testing can be done as per the ICMR guidelines only, and they clearly mention who should be tested and who should not be tested. It is necessary for all states to comply with the ICMR guidelines. The testing can be opened for all if the ICMR guidelines allow, but then the number of people opting to get tested will increase whether or not they have any symptoms."
The Minister informed that there are 36,824 COVID-19 confirmed cases in Delhi, out of which 2,137 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. The active count in the national capital increased to 22,212.
There have been 1,214 COVID-19 deaths so far.
