Delhi govt holds meet over COVID-19; to prepare isolation wards with more than 200 beds

A day after two cases of Coroavirus were confirmed~one in New Delhi while the other in Telangana, senior members of the Delhi government held a meeting to discuss the government's preparedness to contain the virus.The total cases in India,however, increased after an Italian tourist in Jaipur was tested positive on Tuesday. 

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Delhi govt meeting

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, state Health Minister Satyendra Jain, Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, and Delhi Health Secretary were all present in the meeting. 

The government has announced that it has been preparing separate isolation wards and will be keeping more than 230 beds ready. The government has also designated 12 centres for medical tests.

The officials stated that a 46 year-old-male was tested positive for Coronavirus and he is a resident of Mayur Vihar in the national capital. The patient has a travel history to Italy, which has one of the highest numbers of confirmed cases outside China. The patient returned to Delhi on February 25. In a notification issued on Monday, the government stated that the person who was confirmed infected with the virus in Telangana recently returned from Dubai. 

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Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on Monday addressed a press conference to inform about India's preparedness to deal with Coronavirus. He added that screening of passengers was being conducted at 21 airports, 12 major seaports, and 65 minor seaports. According to the Health Ministry, India has scanned 5, 57,431 passengers at airports and 12,431 passengers have been screened on minor and major seaports. 

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Earlier on Tuesday, PM Modi tweeted that a high-level extensive review meeting regarding preparedness to deal with the virus. PM Modi tweeted that multiple ministries were working together to deal with the virus and that steps were being taken to prevent the spread of the disease. He went on to add that "there is no need to panic" and that everyone needs to take small steps to ensure that the virus does not spread. 

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Globally, more than 3000 people have died, with the epicenter being in China. The virus has infected more than 90,000 people and has now spread to the United States of America, Europe, Australia, and as many as 40 other countries.