Long queues outside hospitals in Delhi, social distancing rules flouted amid spike in COVID cases

New Delhi: Apart from the novel coronavirus crisis that has been plaguing the country, other diseases too have been making an adverse impact on the people and hospitals alike. Hospitals in Delhi have been witnessing long queues of patients and are overcrowded, raising the risk of a further spread of the COVID-19 infection.   

Earlier, due to the nation wide lockdown people could not avail medical services but now there is a daily rush of people outside the hospitals in the national capital. The queues are sometimes a kilometer long from outside the hospital. 

On Thursday (August 27, 2020) there a big rush outside the OPD at Delhi's GB Pant Hospital. People came from different places across Delhi and waited for treatment.

No COVID-19 rules were being adhered to by the waiting patients and the social distancing norms were being flouted too. 

Meanwhile, Delhi has witnessed a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases. As many as 1,693 new COVID-19 cases and 17 deaths were reported in Delhi on Wednesday. While on Tuesday, the city recorded 1,544 fresh coronavirus cases highest single-day spike in August. On Monday, the daily cases count was 1,061 and 13 deaths were reported. 

Delhi's total has climbed to 1,65,764 while the death toll is at 4,347. 

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government will double COVID-19 testing in the days to come while admitting that there has been a slight increase in coronavirus cases.

“We will double COVID-19 testing in the coming days; next week, 40,000 tests to be conducted per day in Delhi, there has been a slight increase in COVID-19 cases in the last few days” he said.

He, however, asserted that the COVID-19 situation in Delhi is fully under control.