State health minister Satyendar Jain said on Saturday that Delhi has only 7,000 to 8,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and the current stock will last for only 2 to 3 days. Hence, on an urgent basis, the Delhi government has asked for 50,000 PPE kits from the Centre.

The PPE kit is an important preventive healthcare utility. Each kit comprises of a surgeon gown, a face mask, pair of gloves, a preventive eye wear, a hood cap and a shoe cover. This kit helps to reduce the risk of infection to healthcare staffs while attending the infected persons.

Delhi is the third most-affected state with 445 coronavirus cases, whereas, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have maximum 490 and 485 cases, respectively.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had also raised the issue of shortage of PPEs while briefing the media about the status of coronavirus cases. He also said that due to the Nizamuddin episode, the number of COVID-19 patients have suddenly surged up in Delhi.

He further said that he doesn’t want the medical professional to work without the protective gear and has requested the Centre to provide with PPE kits urgently.

He also mentioned that there is no community transmission of coronavirus cases happening in Delhi as of now. They still have local transmission.

When it is possible to trace the source of infection, it is the local transmission stage. If the disease spreads in communities and becomes difficult to trace the source, then it will be community transmission. The CM said that they haven’t reached that stage.

The chief minister said that the test reports of 2,300 Tablighi Jamaat members, will be out in 1 or 2 days. Out of which 500 are admitted to different hospitals and about 1,800 are in quarantine. He said that our aim is to prevent community transmission.

The Delhi CM also said that Delhi has witnessed 6 deaths due to COVID-19. Among these 6 people, 5 people were above 60 and one person was 36 years old. He requested all senior citizens who are above 55 or 60 years to be very cautious about the situation and not to go outside.

Source: ET Healthworld