Cases mount, Delhi govt advises home isolation - State recorded highest intra-day spike with 1,024 new patients

Police stop commuters, who were trying to cross the Delhi-Gurugram border, near Dhanchiri Camp in Gurugram, Friday, May 29, 2020. Haryana has sealed its borders with Delhi in the wake of rise in Covid-19 cases. (PTI)

Pheroze L. Vincent, TT,  30.05.20, New Delhi: The Delhi government on Friday advised home quarantine in case of mild coronavirus infections and asymptomatic cases, a day after the state recorded its highest intra-day spike with 1,024 fresh cases.

The government, however, clarified that there were more than enough hospital facilities for severely ill Covid-19 patients.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia asked people not to panic and said “80 to 90 per cent of infected people are recovering in home quarantine”. The Delhi government issued three-page ads in major newspapers and displayed a 15-minute video on news channels on how home isolation should be done.

In a webcast, Sisodia said: “There is this fear that once somebody tests positive, they have to be admitted to a hospital. We get a lot of panic calls too. But if the symptoms are not severe and you are overall asymptomatic, you should confine yourself to an isolated room and quarantine yourself. Other family members should maintain a safe distance and keep their homes sanitised.

“Thirteen deaths have been reported due to the coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Sixty-nine old corona-related deaths that occurred over the past 34 days have also been added in our health bulletin. Fifty-two cases were reported from Safdarjung hospital. The rest were from other hospitals.

“So, the health bulletin will reflect 82 deaths, but out of these, 13 deaths have happened in the past 24 hours and the remaining 69 deaths have happened in the course of the past 34 days. We got late reports on these deaths.

Health minister Satyendar Jain said: “We have more than 5,000 beds for coronavirus treatment in Delhi — 1,400 beds in private hospitals and 3,700 in government hospitals. The number of patients currently on ventilator support is 28. We have more than 300 dedicated ventilators available currently in Delhi. Our aim is to double the number of beds in the coming days in comparison with the number of patients right now.”