New Delhi: Days after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government is well prepared to handle even one lakh Covid cases a day, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Friday expressed confidence over such claim and stated that the experience in the second wave would be beneficial for the government to tackle the surge in the pandemic.
Against a possible third wave of Covid19 pandemic due to Omicron, IMA said that it's not only Delhi but the entire country is well prepared to deal with any possible eventuality.
"We learnt a lot from the second wave. Both the Delhi and Central governments took note of the fact. So, I am confident that Delhi government can handle one lakh cases per day," said IMA finance secretary Dr Anil Goyal in an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat in New Delhi.
He, however, cautioned that the Delhi government should turn everything into reality.
"We are confident that Delhi government could tackle tough situations, but whatever is promised, it must be implemented," added Dr Goyal.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recently said that his government is fully prepared to handle the threat being posed by Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Kejriwal said that his government was prepared to handle more than one lakh daily cases besides conduct of three lakh tests.
During second wave of the pandemic, the daily case count in the national capital was 28,000.
"Advantage for Delhi is that the central government also gets involved in all crisis situations," said Dr Goyal.
He also pointed out that Delhi being the national capital, many people from neighbouring States also come for treatment here.
"Fifty percent of the cases in Delhi come from NCR because of the fact that Delhi has got health care facilities," Dr Goyal said.
Earlier, the Union Health Ministry too noted the surge in Covid cases in Delhi. The health ministry has said that Delhi is among the other five States which has become an emerging states of concern on the basis of weekly cases and positivity rate.
In the last week, the case positivity rate in Delhi jumped to 1.0 percent from 0.20 percent registered between December 17-23. Ironically, the maximum number (263) of Omicron cases is being reported in the national capital.
Talking to this correspondent, IMA secretary general Dr Jayesh M Lele said the last two years gave full opportunity to the government to prepare its health care infrastructure.
"Government is now fully prepared with hospitals beds with and without ICU for Covid patients," said Dr Lele.
He said that IMA is also ready to provide its assistance to both State and Central governments.
"We have 3.5 lakh doctors associated with us. In addition to that, 20,000 doctors have become members of IMA in last two months. We are ready to extend a helping hand to the government in its fight against Covid19," said Dr Lele.
