Over 60,000 people have registered on Delhi govt portal to go back home

Over 60,000 people from various states stranded in Delhi have registered on a city government portal so far for being sent back to their home states amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown, officials said on Thursday.

In a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), chaired by Lieutenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal, officials informed that out of the over 12,000 migrant workers in government shelters, over 3,500 have moved safely to their home states.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his cabinet colleagues Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, and top officials of the government.

The migrant workers housed in these shelters belong to Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, a statement from the LG office said.

"The DDMA is collecting information of the distressed, stranded people of other states in Delhi. Till now over, 60,000 people have registered on the government portal," it said.

Reviewing health preparedness and relief measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Baijal directed the health department to ramp up medical facilities keeping in view Delhi's present statistics and medical scenario.

He advised the department to intensify surveillance of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and continue focus on surveillance, micro plans, proper delineation and efficient perimeter control with active case search and contact tracing.

The Lt Governor directed the DDMA to ensure screening of stranded people moving out of or entering the national capital from other states strictly as per the central government's protocols.

For Indians who are being brought back from abroad, 2,300 rooms have been requisitioned and more have been identified for quarantine purposes, officers informed the LG in the meeting.

The principle secretary for health presented COVID-19 statistics, informing that up to May 14, there are 8,470 cases in Delhi out of which 3,045 have recovered and the total active cases are 5310.

The total cumulative tests till date are 1,19,736. Delhi's doubling rate is more than 12 days, recovery rate is32.88 per cent, fatality rate 1.13 per cent and number of tests conducted per million are 4,968. Positive confirmation rate is 6.9 per cent, it was informed in the meeting.