The number of coronavirus cases in India crossed the 10,000-mark on Tuesday, with the infections doubling over six days (till Monday) and the government expanding containment efforts and ramping up testing in an attempt to curb the highly contagious pathogen from sweeping across the country.
Delhi recorded its biggest daily spike yesterday with 356 cases on Monday, according to Delhi government health officials. The national capital has recorded 1,510 cases so far, becoming the city with the most number of infections.
The number of cases in Delhi increased from 72 on March 29 to 1,510 on Tuesday – most of the 356 cases reported on Monday appeared to be linked to the Nizamuddin gathering. The national capital reported its first case on March 2, when a 45-year-old who travelled from Italy tested positive. According to officials in the Delhi government, about 1,050 of the total cases are attendees of the Nizamuddin event or their contacts.
The Delhi government has set up a task force to identify suspected coronavirus cases in all districts of the city.
Amid the rising number of cases, a ‘Corona Foot Warriors Containment and Surveillance Force’ has been constituted at every booth level by Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, a Delhi government official told news agency PTI.
Each team of the force will have five members including a booth-level officer, civil defence volunteer, police constable, sanitation and anganwadi worker, the official said.
The government launched a massive sanitisation drive in those areas declared as red zones, and high-risk zones identified by the colour orange to prevent the spread of the disease. “Massive sanitisation drive underway in Delhi. Sixty machines, including 10 hi-tech Japanese machines, have been deployed,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.
The administration also ran a pilot disinfection drive using the hi-tech Japanese spray machines at Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency.
Meanwhile, in order to ensure strict compliance of social distancing norms, the Delhi government will implement odd-even rules in all wholesale markets of the city. Traders will sell vegetables on alternate days, Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai said.