Delhi readies centres to vaccinate children, administer booster doses as COVID cases rise

New Delhi: Amidst a rise in COVID cases detected in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain informed that the Delhi government has taken all possible measures to tackle any future emergencies. He said that adequate supplies of oxygen, medications, test kits and beds have been arranged in view of the rising Covid cases in the capital.

In addition to ramping up the vaccination capacity which has been increased to three lakh people per day, he informed that the preparations for administering vaccines to children and booster doses to the elderly beginning in the first week of January have also been completed.

Informing that majority of the 238 cases of Omicron reported in Delhi so far have been detected in international passengers, Jain said, "Out of the total cases, 57 people have recovered so far while none of the cases required oxygen support and have only shown mild symptoms. The Omicron cases are being detected through the four genomic sequencing labs which are fully operational in Delhi."

The Health Minister suggested that the observations from global studies and experience in dealing with the Omicron cases suggests that the variant is less severe and less lethal than the Delta variant that is still the dominant variant in the country.

He further informed that the yellow alert in Delhi will be upgraded to level 2 Amber alert if the positivity rate remains above one percent for two days in a row.

"On the issuance of the Amber Alert, all schools, colleges, parks, restaurants (except home delivery) amongst other non-essential services will remain closed in Delhi with tightening of the night curfew. The Health Department is in close contact with health crisis experts to take all the necessary steps to prevent the virus from spreading further," he added.

Asking the citizens to strictly adhere to Covid-Appropriate Behaviour, he noted that Omicron is the variant of Corona itself and can be successfully treated and prevented by taking precautionary measures as before. He urged people to wear masks, practise social distancing in public places and take both doses of COVID vaccine to ensure everyone’s safety.