Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday that people who have arrived from the UK are being rigorously traced and tested for coronavirus-like symptoms. Jain said that the situation is under control in Delhi with positivity rate dipping to below 1 per cent. He lauded the Centre's move to ban flights from the UK and said that it will help in containing the new strain.
"We are alert and watchful at our end. People who have arrived here from the UK in the last several days are being rigorously traced and tested for slightest of COVID-like symptoms. A team has been made and house-to-house tracing is being done... they are being advised self-isolation too," he added.
The Health Minister said that Delhi has fought difficult battles with coronavirus and that the government will ensure that all the progress made is not reversed due to the new strain. He said that the positivity rate has dropped below 1 per cent which is the lowest in eight months.
He said that only ICMR can give proper insights into the new strain but emphasised that the best way to combat any new strain is to wear masks and observe safety norms.
He reiterated that the Delhi government has made storage and logistics preparations and trained staff too as it awaits the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Jain said that the idea is to safeguard vulnerable sections first. "So, the healthcare workers, frontline workers, people above 50 years and those below 50 years with serious ailments are the first ones who will get the vaccine," he said.
An institutional quarantine facility was being set up at the LNJP Hospital for passengers found positive at Delhi airport, amid mounting concern over the new strain of the virus. The Civil Aviation Ministry on Monday had said all flights from the UK to India and vice versa will remain suspended from Wednesday to December 31 in view of the emergence of a mutated variant of the coronavirus there.
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