Coronavirus: Under Masterplan, Delhi Govt. To Conduct One Lakh Random Tests

The Delhi government is all set to introduce randomised testing of one lakh individuals in the fight against Coronavirus in the national capital region. Delhi chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to announce his master plan on tackling the coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday afternoon. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has also announced its decision to conduct 1 lakh random tests per day across the country.

The Kejriwal government, as part of its five-point masterplan, is set to test one lakh people in the next few days in an intensive campaign of random testing. Among the places chosen for randomised testing are hotspots such as Nizamuddin West where the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters or Markaz is located and Dilshad Garden, which turned out to be the epicentre of the first cluster outbreak in Delhi.

More than 45,000 people are under home quarantine in the Nizamuddin area, media reports stated. In an intensive sanitation drive, the Delhi government has been disinfecting large sections of the national capital. Yet, the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases has been rising in Delhi and has gone well over 500.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to sweep through the country with the total number of infected cases now going up to 4421, according to the data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Of these, 3981 are seen as active cases. There have been 114 deaths so far from the deadly virus.

A matter of concern for the Centre as well as the state governments is that new hotspots continue to emerge in various places. These include Dehradun in Uttarakhand, Lucknow in UP, Bhopal in MP and Surat in Gujarat.

With over 800 cases and 45 deaths, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of Coronavirus cases in the country. The southern state of Tamil Nadu has recorded more than 600 cases, most of them having been to the Ijtemah or religious congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat in its headquarters or Markaz in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi.