COVID-19 situation in Delhi under control even after more lockdown relaxations: Kejriwal

The COVID-19 situation in Delhi is under control, a week after several relaxations were given in the fourth phase of coronavirus-induced lockdown, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.

Kejriwal asserted that he would be concerned only if two things happened -- either there is a significant increase in fatalities or the city's health care system collapses due to spike in COVID-19 cases.

The chief minister further said that it is not a matter of concern if people are getting infected and recovering simultaneously from the dreaded virus as coronavirus will not go away in next one or two days.

Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal, said his government was ready to deal with the situation if there is a spike in the number of serious cases in the national capital.

He said that there are currently 4,500 beds available for COVID-19 patients in both private and government hospitals and 2,000 new beds will be available in private facilities from Monday.

He said that the AAP government is creating a system through which a COVID-19 patient will be able to find available beds in both state and private-run hospitals.

Kejriwal said that he was expecting a slight increase in COVID-19 cases when several relaxations were given in fourth phase of lockdown.

"It has been one week since the (fourth phase) lockdown began. After one week, I can say that the situation is still under control and there is no need to panic," he said, adding that there has been a slight increase in COVID-19 cases but it is not matter of concern.

According to him, there were 9,755 COVID-19 cases in Delhi on May 17 and the number climbed to 13,418 with around 3,500 cases being recorded within seven days of implementation of fourth phase of lockdown.

However, 2,500 people have also recovered from the virus during this period, Kejriwal said, adding that only 250 patients were admitted to hospitals in last seven days
"I will be concerned when two things happen. First, there is significant increase in death cases and second thing is collapse of health care system due to sudden spike in cases due to which no bed is available in hospitals...," he said