Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged people to wear masks to protect themselves against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and treat wearing masks like a vaccine against the disease till an actual vaccine is available.
“I come across a lot of people in everyday life who either don’t wear masks or wear it the wrong way – with their noses and mouth exposed. That does not work. One must remember that Covid-19 does not discriminate and it can happen to anyone – the poor and the affluent, the young and the old, men and women,” said Kejriwal at an event to mark the foundation of a road redevelopment project.
Kejrwal added, “This is the third wave of Covid-19 in Delhi and things are in bad shape. We have seen two distinct peaks on June 23 and on September 17.”
On June 23, Delhi had recorded 3,947 cases in a single day and 4,432 on September 17. “We can win the fight against Covid-19 like the way we defeated dengue but we need to work hard towards it. Unlike other cities, Delhi never started from zero. From the very beginning, in March, Delhi witnessed a lot of people arriving from countries which were already severely affected by Covid-19 – Italy, France, UK. Around 32,000 people arrived in the city at a time when the testing facility was not adequate and they spread across the city. In our fight against Covid-19, we need to keep such things in mind,” said Kejriwal.
Delhi on Thursday recorded 6,715 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total number recorded till date to 416,653. As many as 371,155 people have recovered from the disease and 6,769 have died of it. The city, on Thursday, also recorded a positivity rate of 12.84% — up from an average of 5.3% recorded for the week ending October 8.
The chief minister also highlighted the air pollution problem in Delhi during the winters and the role of crop stubble burning in neighbouring states. He said, “All states will now have to adopt decomposer technology like Delhi has done this year and distribute among farmers. If they need help, we are ready to provide them with stubble decomposer capsules.”
The air quality in Delhi remained in the “very poor” category on Friday.
