Image Courtesy:thequint.com
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage on in the country. India currently has 161,422 active cases, with highest cases being reported from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat.
With infections soaring, it was found that, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jai and MLA Atishi from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have tested positive for the virus, The Indian Express reported. Jain was first admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital when he complained of breathlessness, fever and a drop in oxygen levels. Though he tested negative for the virus first, his symptoms persisted and upon a retest, he was found to have the infection.
Doctors said that Jain had no co-morbid conditions such as diabetes or hypertension. His father-in-law, who had also tested positive for Covid and was admitted to a private hospital, died on Wednesday. He was also suffering from cancer.
MLA Atishi and AAP media panelist Akshay Marathe who also tested positive have been asked to recuperate at home as they show only mild symptoms.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal who himself underwent a Covid-19 test a few days ago and tested negative, tweeted to Jain and Atishi sending his best wishes and asking them to get well soon.
अपनी सेहत का ख़्याल किए बिना आप रात दिन 24 घंटे जनता की सेवा में लगे रहे। अपना ख़्याल रखें और जल्द स्वस्थ हों। https://t.co/pmsU5fuuRP
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 16, 2020
कोरोना के खिलाफ लड़ाई में आतिशी जी का महत्त्वपूर्ण योगदान रहा है। मुझे उम्मीद है वो जल्द से जल्द स्वस्थ हो कर एक बार फिर लोगों की सेवा में लग जाएंगी https://t.co/gIBRrYoNVh
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 17, 2020
In response, Atishi tweeted that she was doing fine and was monitoring her oxygen levels.
Thanks a lot for all the love and good wishes! Want to reassure everyone that I’m doing OK. Am in Home Isolation since I got my test results. Fully equipped with fruit, Vit C and an oxymeter to monitor oxygen levels 🙂 pic.twitter.com/1kCX4eN1EG
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) June 17, 2020
Delhi currently has a total of 47,102 Covid-19 cases, with 27,471 being active cases. As many as 17,457 people have recovered from the virus and at least 1,904 have succumbed to the infection. In the last week, the number of new infections has grown by an average of 5 percent every day.
Livemint reported that an expert committee led by Niti Aayog member V.K. Paul fixed the prices of Covid-19 tests at Rs. 2,400 and also ordered the use of the Rapid Antigen Methodology to be adopted at 169 centers in and around containment zones in a bid to increase testing. The Centre has set a target of 6 lakh Rapid Antigen tests, 500 more ventilators to the existing 431 and 650 ambulances to the existing 350.
The Supreme Court also pulled up the Delhi government for its mismanagement over the Covid-19 crisis. The SC had taken suo moto cognizance after reports of alleged mishandling of Covid-19 dead bodies and ill-treatment of patients had emerged, Live Law reported. Slamming the government’s lax approach it asked the Delhi government to come up with a “better affidavit” to submit its response to the handling of the pandemic.
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