Opposition parties have criticised the Arvind Kejriwal government on COVID-19 situation in Delhi.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today that India will win even though it is "fighting China on two fronts" - one at the border and the other being coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese province of Wuhan in December 2019. He also emphasised that there should be no politics on such matters.
"Today we are fighting two wars against China - one at the border and another against the virus from China. Twenty of our brave soldiers did not back down, we will also not retreat," he said, adding, "This is not the time for politics, all of us have to fight the wars together."
Mr Kejriwal made the statement soon after announcing that the government is going to help coronavirus patients get oxygen through a phone call. This was among a number of measures announced to help the national capital fight the sharp rise in coronavirus cases, which shot by 3,000 cases to reach total of 59,746. Mr Kejriwal said only 25,000 of them are active cases and about 12,000 were recovering at home.
Opposition parties have criticised the Arvind Kejriwal government on its handling of the pandemic in Delhi. It was also pulled up by the Supreme Court, among other states, to take stricter COVID-19 measures.
Since then, Home Minister Amit Shah has held numerous meetings with the Delhi government to review ground situation and discuss preparedness.
After one such meeting today, a fresh set of guidelines was issued. The Delhi government was also told that every death will have to be reported to the Centre.
The state government has found itself repeatedly at loggerheads with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, whose now-revoked order on mandatory five-day institutional quarantine for anyone testing positive for coronavirus in Delhi was the latest to ruffle political feathers.
Earlier as well, the Lieutenant Governor and the state government have clashed over reserving beds in Delhi hospitals for coronavirus patients in Delhi.