Online yoga classes for Covid patients from today

New Delhi: The Delhi government will launch online yoga and pranayam classes for COVID-19 patients in home isolation from January 12, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday. He also said that this initiative will be the first of its kind in the world. There will be eight classes of one hour each from 6 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 7 pm under the the "Dilli ki Yogshala" programme, the chief minister said during an online briefing. "To help patients who are recovering at home, the Delhi government has brought forward a one of a kind programme. The programme will be unique in itself throughout the globe. In my understanding, we are the first to design something like this," he said during an online briefing.

Kejriwal said registration links will be sent to patients in home isolation and they can register for the classes according to their convenience. "Classes will be held in batches of 15 and we have sufficient instructors to look after 40,000 patients," he said. Kejriwal said that COVID-19 cases are rapidly rising throughout the country. Delhi too is witnessing a rise but it is being seen that the speed of spread of the virus has slowed down, the chief minister said.

"I hope that this trend will continue for the near future and the Covid spread comes down. At present, barely 1,500-2,000 hospital beds have been occupied by Covid patients and the rest are in home isolation," he added. Kejriwal said that instructors have been given specific training for yoga asanas and practices related to COVID-19 recovery. "Yoga and pranayam greatly add on to one's immunity. I would not claim that they offer complete protection against the virus but they definitely help one cope and recover more efficiently," he said.

The chief minister said they do not want this to be "some large scale broadcast that the masses follow". "We want this to be a proper treatment regimen for every single patient. Even though Omicron (variant of coronavirus) is mild, I hope this programme will aid every patient in their recovery. The patients will not only get treated but also gain a sense of mental and spiritual peace," he said.