Two more persons died of COVID-19, while 128 more tested positive for the infection in the national capital on Thursday, raising the total number of the pandemic fatalities to 50 and infected cases to 2,236 here till date, said officials.
The new corona-positive cases include those of a 12-member family, also comprising a two-month-old infant, of the Walled City area and 46 others of North Delhi's Jahangirpuri area found infected, they said.
The number of containment zones in the city too rose to 92, said a Delhi Health Department's bulletin issued on Thursday
The bulletin said 84 patients were cured of the infection and discharged on the day.
It said since April 18, there had been a steep rise in the rate of recovery of COVID-19 patients with 735of the cured 808 patients recovering in a short span of only six days.
The bulletin put the total number of active cases at 1,518 on Thursday. In wake of attacks on healthcare personnel, Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev constituted a six-member team to frame security protocol for medicare workers, officials told PTI.
They said the police commissioner will also appoint two nodal officers who will take immediate action in cases of attacks on healthcare personnel.
On Thursday, an ordinance that makes acts of violence against healthcare personnel or damage to property during an epidemic a cognisable offence came into effect.
In the Walled City are of the national capital, 12 members of a family, including a two-month-old child, residing in a containment zone, tested positive for COVID-19 infection. All of them have been sent to the LNJP Hospital.
A man in the family had returned from Uzbekistan last month but did not inform authorities. Later, he started having COVID-19 symptoms, like coughing and breathless, following which he was tested and found infected, they said.
His test result came positive recently, following which 11 other family members living in Churiwalan area in the Walled City, were also tested and all of them tested positive for infection, said officials.
In another case, 46 people tested positive for the infection in North Delhi's Jahangirpuri.
They said the cases were detected in three streets of the H Block which was sealed by the district administration on April 14 after members of a family tested positive recently.
"Forty-six people living in H Block of Jahangirpuri tested positive for COVID-19. This area has already been sealed after detailed screening was carried out and samples taken," North District Magistrate Deepak Shinde said.
Earlier this week, thirty-one members of an extended family, including children, residing in Jahangirpuri area, had tested positive for the virus.
With the coronavirus infection rising among the Delhi Police personnel, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed authorities to create a dedicated COVID-19 facility to treat infected police personnel, officials said.
The move came in the wake of over 20 police personnel testing positive for the virus in the city so far.
An official told PTI that the lieutenant governor has also directed setting up an exclusive testing centre for the Delhi police personnel, besides providing personal protective equipment to those who are on COVID-19 duty.
"There is a plan to set up a dedicated COVID-19 testing centre for police personnel at Shahdara Police Station, but a final decision is yet to be taken," a source said.
According to a senior police official, the Delhi Police's strength is about 82,000 personnel.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Vijay Dev has directed officials to take strict action against landlords asking migrants workers and students to pay rent amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.
In the order issued on April 22, Dev said all district magistrates will run awareness campaigns in their respective areas, advising "affected persons" to lodge police complaints against such errant landlords.
It stated that the Delhi government had issued an order on March 29, according to which, landlords have been asked not to demand rent for a period of one month from workers and migrants.
The March 29 order had also stated that if any landlord forces labourers and students to vacate their premises, they would be liable for action under the Disaster Management Act.
Passengers using the Delhi Metro, post resumption of operations, will have to take metallic items off their body before frisking, use face masks, have the 'Aarogya Setu' app, but those with flu-like symptoms won't be allowed, as per a proposal prepared by the CISF.
The paramilitary force that guards the network running across the national capital region has formulated a 'business continuity plan' for security and safety of passengers and staffers working at the facility.
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