Delhi L-G Anil Baijal withdraws compulsory 5-day institutional quarantine order after AAP opposes move

Amid stiff resistance from the Delhi ruling AAP government, Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday rolled back his order of mandatory 5-day institutional quarantine for COVID-19 patients in the national capital.

NEW DELHI: Amid huge resistance from the Delhi's ruling AAP government, Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday rolled back his order of mandatory 5-day institutional quarantine for COVID-19 patients in the national capital.

Recalling his order, a tweet from Delhi L-G’s office said, “Only those COVID positive cases which do not require hospitalisation on clinical assessment and do not have adequate facilities for home isolation would be required to undergo institutional isolation." 

Regarding institutional isolation, only those COVID positive cases which do not require hospitalisation on clinical assessment & do not have adequate facilities for home isolation would be required to undergo institutional isolation.

— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) June 20, 2020

Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia Sisodia thanked L-G and said that ''the reservations of L-G over home isolation were resolved in the SDMA meeting and the home isolation system will continue. We thank him for this. Under the leadership of our Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, we will not let Delhi people have any inconvenience.''

It may be recalled that Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party had opposed Lt Governor’s order for a compulsory five-day institutional quarantine for COVID-19 patients, calling it an arbitrary move. The Delhi government said that the L-G's decision on home quarantine is "arbitrary" and will "seriously harm" people in the national capital. 

Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh termed the order "dictatorial".

"I want to ask, what dictatorial order is this? One rule for Delhi and another for the rest of the country. Is the BJP government taking revenge on the people?" the AAP leader said. "Where will the person be kept, in railway coaches?" Singh asked.

Rai said ICMR guidelines say patients with mild symptoms can be home quarantined but a different order has been issued for Delhi. "It is a very unfair decision," Singh said.

Sisodia had earlier said there was no consensus on this decision at the Delhi State Disaster Management Authority meeting. In a series of tweets, Sisodia said no consensus could be reached in the meeting on the L-G order and the rate of private hospital beds and another meeting will take place at 5 pm. 

He added that the order to terminate home isolation is against the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines and it will create chaos in Delhi.

"The Delhi government opposed L-G's order on scrapping home isolation and no decision was taken on it. The matter will be discussed again in the evening," he tweeted in Hindi.

AAP MLA Raghav Chadha said many people will not get tested in fear of being whisked away to quarantine centers. "People in my assembly called me and told me that we will not get tested now. People are that scared," he told reporters

Chadha said Delhi would need 15,000 beds by June 30, but after this order 90,000 beds will be required. "From where will we get these beds?" he asked.

Ending the option of home isolation will lead to further spread of the disease ad many people will be scared of institutional quarantine and will not get themselves tested, AAP MLA Atishi said.

Meanwhile, a plea has been moved in Delhi High Court challenging Delhi Lieutenant Governor's order which made mandatory for COVID19 positive cases to undergo 5 days institutional quarantine.

Lieutenant Governor Baijal had on Friday ordered a five-day mandatory institutional quarantine for every COVID-19 patient under home isolation in Delhi. The L-G is the chairman of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.

For the first time, Delhi recorded over 3,000 fresh coronavirus cases on Friday in its highest single-day spike so far, pushing the tally to 53,116 cases. With 66 fatalities in 24 hours, the death toll reached 2,035.