Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said the government is going to help patients get oxygen easily — through a phone call. The government, he also said, has more than tripled its testing levels – going up from 5,000 to 18,000 a day. Aggressive testing, followed by isolation and treatment, has helped control the spread of the coronavirus infection in other parts of the world.

Delhi has overtaken Tamil Nadu to become the state with the second highest number of coronavirus cases in the country after Maharashtra. The numbers in the national capital has neared the 60,000-mark. 3,000 people tested positive on Sunday, taking the total to 59,746.  

All coronavirus patients in Delhi will have to go to COVID-19 care centres and those who have facilities at home and have no co-morbidity can avail home isolation in the capital, the Centre said today, hours after the Delhi government issued a revised order on home quarantine.

Breathing difficulty and low oxygen levels in blood are the most common complications in the infection, the Chief Minister said.

To counter this, the government, he said, will be providing “Pulse Oxymeter” — a special machine to measure oxygen levels in blood — at home, so patients can request for oxygen even before they have breathing difficulties.  

The district authorities have been provided with oxygen concentrators — a medical device that assists people who have a low level of oxygen in their blood. Depending on the patient’s condition they may then be moved to a hospital.