English
New Delhi: The Delhi government, under fire for reserving hospitals only for ‘residents of Delhi’, on Monday sought to deflect the blame on the Centre, saying that had international flights been stopped on time, the situation would be much better, adding that as per its estimates, the number of cases in the national capital will reach 56,000 in the next two weeks.
Addressing a press conference today, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said, “If Centre would’ve stopped international flights in time, situation could’ve been better. Given the rising number of cases, hospitals are needed for Delhiites. In any case, neighbouring states say they have less number of cases, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
#WATCH …If Centre would've stopped (intn'l) flights in time, situation could've been better.Given the cases, hospitals are needed for Delhites.Neighboring states say they have less cases so it shouldn't be issue: Delhi Health Min on criticism of reserving hospital for residents pic.twitter.com/VIZ94sORBQ
— ANI (@ANI) June 8, 2020
Notably, international flight operations to-and-from India have been under suspension since March 22. However, domestic flight operations restarted on May 18, nearly two months after being suspended on March 25.
On the current coronavirus situation in Delhi, Jain said, “We have 8,500-9,000 beds as of now, in the next 15 days, we will take it to 15,000-17,000. Since the doubling rate of cases is 14-15 days, we think cases will reach 56,000 in the next two weeks.”
We have 8,500-9,000 beds as of now, in the next 15 days we will take it to 15,000-17,000. Since the doubling rate of cases is 14-15 days, we think cases will reach 56,000 in the next two weeks: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/LVlYrcfapD
— ANI (@ANI) June 8, 2020
Notably, earlier in the week, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal sought to know from residents of the capital if hospitals should be reserved only for them. Then, last night, he announced that all state and private hospitals, except those providing ‘specialised’ surgeries, will only take in COVID-19 patients from Delhi.
As of Sunday night, Delhi had an overall COVID-19 count of more than 29,000, the third-highest after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu respectively.
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