Had Centre stopped international flights in time, COVID-19 situation could have been better: Delhi Health Minister

Had the Centre stopped international flights in time, coronavirus situation could have been better in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday.

"There are 28,936 cases including 17,125 active cases. 10,999 patients have recovered and 812 people have died. Had the Centre stopped (international) flights in time, the situation could have been better," Jain told when asked about criticism of Delhi government's decision of reserving Delhi hospital for people of the national capital.

"Coronavirus cases in Delhi are increasing and more than 1,000 cases are being reported daily. So, hospitals are needed for the people of Delhi. Neighbouring states say they have fewer cases so it shouldn't be an issue," he said.

The Minister said that Delhi will have more than 50,000 coronavirus cases in the next two weeks.

"We have 8,500-9,000 beds as of now, in the next 15 days we will take it to 15,000-17,000. Since the doubling rate of cases is 14-15 days, we think cases will reach 56,000 in the next two weeks," Jain said.

The Centre had stopped international flights in March ahead of the announcement of nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. While domestic flight operations have resumed last month, the government has not given nod to international flights yet.

Responding to a question of appointing nursing officer in private hospitals, he said: "This is being done because we were getting complaints that people were facing problems in getting admission in hospitals. They will see that people not being denied admission in hospitals."

( With inputs from ANI )