Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has reiterated that community spread of the coronavirus has taken place in Delhi. Citing the sero survey, he said, “I have been talking about community spread in Delhi for two months. Now that 24% of the people in Delhi have been cured of infection, it is up to the central government to decide whether it will be called community spread or not.”
The serological survey conducted in Delhi between 27 June and 10 July has yielded a report stating that close to a quarter of the Delhi population have been infected by the novel coronavirus. According to the report, antibodies for the virus were found in 23.48% of the survey’s subjects, which included individuals across age groups and neighbourhoods. It is to be noted that the serological study included only those who had shown no symptoms of Covid-19. A total of 21,387 samples were collected from all 11 districts in Delhi, starting with containment zones, and sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The report was submitted by the NCDC after examining the sample. Satyendar Jain f u r t h e r s a i d , “When the epidemic had been declared, there were only 10 COVID-19 patients. Now that the number of cases has crossed 10 million across the country, shouldn’t it be called community spread? This should be declared by the central government or WHO or NCDC.” Citing the report, he added, “In the second week of June this year, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS, had said that the coronavirus will see a community spread, but the Central Government is still not declaring it officially.”
Jain’s question was met with criticism from both BJP and Congress. BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri told The Daily Guardian, “The Delhi government is saying this only to hide its failures and corruption. If Jain feels that there is community spread, then he should write to the Central government and get Delhi on lockdown again to offer people relief.”
Delhi Congress vice-president Abhishek Dutt also told The Daily Guardian that the Delhi government should “sit down when all the work is to be done by only the Centre”. “Delhi Metro and Delhi Police are under the Central government, new hospitals are being opened by the Central government. The Delhi government is only good for publicity,” he added.