New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) Amid a spurt in Covid cases, the Delhi government will soon be issuing guidelines for schools, even as Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday assured that the Omicron variant XBB.1.16 is not leading to severe infection among children.
Delhi’s single-day COVID-19 cases count breached the 1,000-mark for the first time in more than seven months on Wednesday, while the positivity rate stood at 23.8 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Education Minister Atishi said the government is reviewing the situation and guidelines for schools will be issued soon.
“Our government is reviewing the Covid situation and guidelines will be issued to all the schools in this regard very soon,” she said during a press conference.
Bharadwaj said there were no indications that Omicron variant XBB.1.16 was leading to severe infection among children, and assured that the government was closely monitoring the situation.
“Commonly, any illness affects children and the elderly. But there is no information coming in from experts that says that the Omicron XBB.1.16 variant infection is more severe among children,” he said.
“I would advise people with low immunity or those with severe illnesses to avoid crowded places and wear masks. The transmissibility of this variant is high,” he added.
Noting that the cases are rising, Bharadwaj expressed hope that they will plateau soon.
“The government is fully prepared. There are adequate number of oxygen beds, ventilator beds, ICU beds. By the grace of god, we should not require them. The government is closely monitoring the situation,” he said.
The health department on Wednesday said 221 of the 7,944 beds in the city’s dedicated Covid hospitals are occupied, with experts saying that the cases will peak in the next couple of weeks.
A newborn diagnosed with COVID-19 has been admitted to LNJP Hospital here, its medical director said on Thursday.
Suresh Kumar, the medical director at LNJP Hospital, told PTI during an interaction that wearing masks has been made “mandatory” at the facility.
The 2,000-bed British-era facility is the largest hospital under the Delhi government.
“Children are not vaccinated, so we need to take precautions for them as they are getting symptoms like fever, cough, eye infection and stomach infection as well. This variant (XBB.1.16) is affecting children more. An 18-day-old newborn has even been admitted to our hospital and the child is Covid positive,” he said.
Four more children are admitted to the hospital, Kumar said.
It is better to wear masks in schools and public places and even senior citizens should wear masks. Precaution is surely better, he said.
“We will see the peak of Covid cases in one-two weeks and the graph will go down from thereon,” Kumar said.
Mock drills were conducted at hospitals in Delhi on Tuesday to ascertain their preparedness to tackle the disease amid a surge in cases in the national capital.
The mock drill conducted on Tuesday was part of a nationwide exercise to take stock of the hospitals’ preparedness to tackle the surge in Covid cases.
Officials had already announced that both public and private facilities are expected to participate in the exercise conducted on April 10 and 11. PTI SLB ABU KND RHL
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.