Aam Aadmi Party supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is back to doing what he has mastered for so many years. A day after the Delhi Health minister assured that the third wave of Covid-19 has passed its peak in the national capital and there is no need for a lockdown, Arvind Kejriwal takes a complete u-turn seeking Centre’s nod to impose lockdown in Covid hotspots markets in Delhi.
Arvind Kejriwal demands imposing lockdown in Delhi
According to reports, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government will send a fresh proposal to the Centre seeking its permission to impose lockdown across market areas to control the rising coronavirus cases. “Will send a proposal to the central government for permission to close markets if crowds don’t decrease as the shopping areas have the potential of becoming Covid-19 hotspots,” the chief minister said on Tuesday.
He also informed that the government has sent a proposal to L-G wherein it has recommended that only 50 people be allowed to attend wedding functions. The earlier limit was 200.
Delhi health minister claims no need for imposing lockdown
This statement from the CM comes as a surprise as only yesterday, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had remarked that the Delhi government has no plans to reimpose lockdown since the third wave of coronavirus has already peaked out in the city.
Talking to reporters, he said the virus cannot be contained through a lockdown and that people should protect themselves by wearing face masks. Asked whether lockdown would be reimposed in Delhi, Jain said, “No chance.”
“I can tell you that the peak of the third wave is gone,” he added.
This is when Delhi has been witnessing a spurt in coronavirus cases since October 28 when the daily rise breached the 5,000-mark for the first time and crossed the 8,000-mark. Though the city has reported lower numbers in the last two days, this is being attributed to a decrease in the number of testing. However, Delhi remains the highest contributor to India’s Covid-19 caseload.
Amit Shah once again steps in to help Delhi emerge from the Covid-19 mess
As was the case in the month of August, when the Delhi government had been blaming the ‘outsiders’ for the rise in the number of Coronavirus cases and Amit Shah had to step in to pull out the Kejriwal government from the mess, this time too, the central government stepped in and announced a slew of measures including arranging 300 additional ICU beds, doubling the RTPCR tests daily, and a house-to-house survey to check the rising cases in the national capital.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that some of the hospitals under the municipal corporations will be converted into dedicated COVID hospitals. Also, doctors and paramedical staff have been called in to increase the manpower. According to the MHA, around 75 paramilitary doctors and some 250 paramedics have already arrived in the city from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and other states.
Arvind Kejriwal government again blames ‘outsiders’
Interestingly, instead of doing something concrete to control the pandemic, the Arvind Kejriwal led government has always made bizarre excuses to justify their inadequacy in handling the situation in the city. Blaming outsiders for the drastic increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the city seems to be a popular excuse. Yesterday too, health minister Satyendar Jain stated to media that Delhi is recording more number of positive cases because ‘outsiders’ have been getting their tests done in Delhi. Jain claimed that 25-30% cases in Delhi are because people who are not residents of the city are getting their tests done here and the government cannot refuse them.
