Delhi’s Covid-19 tally now exceeds 36,000. Over 1,000 patients have succumbed to the infection to date and reports are pouring of non-availability of hospital beds in the national capital.

New Delhi, June 13:

Home Minister Amit Shah has called for a meeting on Sunday to discuss the rising number of novel coronavirus cases in the national capital. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, and Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will be in attendance apart from senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

This meeting will be held at the Home Minister’s Office (HMO) at 11 AM on June 14.

Other officials who will be part of the meeting include National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) members Krishna Vatsa and Kamal Kishore, Director General of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) Professor Balram Bhargava, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria, Additional DDG of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Ravindran and Director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Dr Surjit Kumar Singh.

The expert committee will give their opinion on the various challenges that Delhi is facing in its efforts to contain the spread of infection and ramp up medical infrastructure.

Home Minister Amit Shah has also called for a second meeting at 5 PM on Sunday. Mayors of Delhi’s three municipal corporations will be present at this meeting along with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, LG Anil Baijal and Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

On Friday, the Delhi government’s Health Department pegged the total number of confirmed cases of infection in the national capital at 36,824. As many as 22,212 of these cases were active and 12,398 patients had recovered as of June 12.

Reports also confirmed that two senior-most health officials of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) Ashok Rawat and Bhupen Hazarika tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday.