Amit Shah to meet all political parties of Delhi to discuss COVID-19 situation; cases in National Capital rise to 41,182

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called a meeting of all political parties of Delhi on Monday to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the national capital amid a recent spurt in coronavirus cases, an official said. BJP, Congress, AAP and BSP have been invited for the meeting. The COVID-19 case tally has reached nearly 39,000 and the virus has claimed more than 1,200 lives in the capital. A home ministry official said Shah will discuss measures for management of COVID-19 with the political parties. On Sunday, the home minister held two high-level meetings with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, mayors and commissioners of Delhi’s three municipal corporations to strengthen the strategy to fight the pandemic. Announcing a slew of measures to check the spread of the virus after the meeting with Baijal and Kejriwal, the Union home minister announced that COVID-19 testing will be doubled in Delhi in the next two days and subsequently increased by three times. Shah said COVID-19 tests will be started at every polling station in containment zones and a comprehensive house-to-house health survey will be conducted in the hotspots for contact-tracing. To overcome the shortage of beds for coronavirus infected patients in Delhi, the Modi government has decided to immediately provide 500 railway coaches which will be equipped with all facilities, he said. Shah said a committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of VK Paul, a member of the NITI Aayog, to ensure the availability of 60 percent beds by private hospitals at lower rates and fix the rate of coronavirus testing and treatment. The committee will submit its report by Monday.