Coronavirus: Delhi Govt To Feed 4 Lakh Poor People From Saturday, Says CM Kejriwal

On preparedness of government, Arvind Kejriwal said that arrangements were in place to deal with the situation if the number of coronavirus cases went up to even 100 per day in the national capital.

Image: ANI

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kewjriwal, on Friday said that food was being provided to nearly two lakh poor people in the city and the number will be doubled to four lakh from Saturday. The Delhi CM who is regularly holding press conferences ever since the coronavirus threat deepened, said in his address that till Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party government was serving 20,0000 people daily across 224 night shelters in the national capital. “But there were reports that people were left hungry. Across the city, food arrangements have been made in 325 schools. About 500 people can have lunch and dinner in these schools daily," Kejriwal said. He also said that arrangements were in place to deal with the situation if the number of coronavirus cases went up to even 100 per day in the national capital. Due to coronavirus scare, the country is under lockdown till April 14 and all schools closed. He also informed that a five-member panel of doctors, headed by Dr SK Sareen, had submitted its report, prescribing the standard operating procedure for dealing with the situation involving 100, 500 and up to 1,000 new coronavirus patients per day. "We are removing the shortcomings and making preparations to deal with a situation of up to 1,000 coronavirus cases per day. I, however, hope that the number of cases will come down in the coming days," Kejriwal told a press conference here. He asserted that his government was fully prepared to tackle the situation if the number of coronavirus cases increased. The chief minister said so far, 39 COVID-19 cases were reported in the national capital. He added that the Delhi government will also take care of the people from other states living in Delhi, citing appeals by the chief ministers of several states, including Jharkhand and West Bengal.