Delhi govt in touch with other states on movement of migrant workers: Kejriwal says efforts being made to bring back students stranded in Kota

The Delhi government has sought details from states about numbers of their migrant workers stranded in Delhi due to the coronavirus-forced lockdown and said it will make arrangements for screening before they leave for their native places, while efforts are being made to bring back students of the national capital stuck in Kota, Rajasthan.

According to an official, the government will set up medical camps where migrant workers and other people who are stranded here will have to undergo the screening process.

With 76 fresh infections, the total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi rose to 3,515 on Thursday. Three deaths were also reported taking the fatalities to 59, according to a health bulletin.

The government ordered screening of all people living in COVID-19 containment zones at least thrice within 14 days of identifying such areas.

The move comes in the backdrop of several people testing positive for coronavirus in containment zones despite restrictions imposed there.

At present, there are 98 containment zones in the national capital.

The day saw only two recoveries from the infection. There are 2,362 active cases in Delhi.

The government has also decided to deploy two medical teams to carry out COVID-19 tests on traders and workers in Azadpur Mandi as another coronavirus positive case was reported from the wholesale vegetable market taking the total number of cases there to 16.

On bringing back students from Kota in Rajasthan, Kejriwal tweeted, "Delhi govt is making arrangements to soon bring Delhi students back home from Kota."

The officers of Delhi government are in talks with their Rajasthan counterparts, deliberating on the evacuation plan.

A list of the stranded Delhi students is being prepared. The estimated number of such students is around 1,000, said the official. 

Maharashtra and West Bengal are among other states which have decided to bring back their students stranded in Kota, the coaching hub for engineering and medical aspirants.

The Delhi government and police are working on preparing a standard operating procedure (SOP) on the movement of migrant labourers and other stranded people during the lockdown in pursuance of the Union Home Ministry guidelines on the matter, an official said.

"We are in talks with states and sought number of migrant workers and stranded people in Delhi. We will then make arrangements for medical camps for the screening of these people accordingly," he said.

The government has also appointed nodal officers to address issues related to migrant workers.

The MHA, in an order issued on Wednesday, allowed migrant workers, tourists, students and other people, who are stranded in different parts of the country, to move to their respective destinations with certain conditions.

The order stated that buses shall be used for transport of such groups of stranded people and these vehicles will be sanitised and will have to follow safe social distancing norms in seating.

On Thursday, one more nurse at the North Delhi civic body-run Hindurao Hospital tested positive for coronavirus.

In an order, the government directed hospitals and clinics, especially in the private sector, to ensure that patients needing critical healthcare such as dialysis, blood transfusion and chemotherapy are not denied such services amid the ongoing lockdown.

In another order, the Delhi government identified two more private hospitals for treatment of coronavirus patients in case of "shortage of isolation beds".

Delhi Health Secretary Padmini Singla declared the two private hospitals -- Maha Durga Charitable Trust Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital -- as COVID-19 hospitals for admitting confirmed or suspected cases.

The order cited "the shortage of isolation beds in private hospitals" as the reason for the decision.

The Maha Durga Charitable Trust Hospital will have 100 isolation beds, while Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital will have 120 beds.

The medical superintendents of these hospitals have been directed to make isolation beds facility functional before May 3.

Earlier, the AAP dispensation had declared government hospitals LNJP, and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, and private hospitals Sir Gangaram Kolmat Hospital, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital and Max Hospital, Saket as COVID-19 hospitals.

The Delhi government has also directed the LNJP Hospital to make in-house dialysis facility functional for COVID-19 patients immediately.