274 children across CCIs tested positive this year, 80 active

New Delhi: Since the beginning of the year, about 274 children living in the city's childcare institutions have tested positive for Covid-19, of which 80 are still active and 194 have recovered, with Delhi government officials claiming that they have focused on early testing and isolation to locate infections before they could spread.

Sources told Millennium Post that as of May 13, more than 2,900 children were living across 26 government-run and 75 NGO-run CCIs in the city, with a majority of the children (2,100) living in NGO-run CCIs. The sources quoted above added that of the active cases among the children in these institutes, 17 children are admitted to COVID care centres, 62 children are in isolation inside their CCIs, and one was sent to the hospital.

Rashmi Singh, Special Secretary and Director Social Welfare, Women and Child Development Dept, (Delhi Government) said "In this current context of the pandemic, we at WCD devised a mechanism of setting up dedicated quarantine facilities separately for boys and girls apart from allowing facilities of isolation centre to be run in CCIs wherever such infrastructure was available."

She added their focus has been to minimise the interface of outsiders including even outsourced staff from service providers inside CCIs so that the risk to children is minimal. "More than 65 per cent of caregivers over the age group of 45 years in government-run CCIs got vaccinated once the drive started," she said.The official further said any new child even without any symptoms is kept under close medical care and monitored on a day-to-day basis for early treatment in case any symptoms develop.

Those found symptomatic, either new entrant or amongst existing residents, are immediately tested and kept in strict isolation till the outcome of the report. "If found positive, children are shifted to designated hospital, Covid care facility from the CCIs for further medical treatment," the official said.

When an official was asked how they plan to tackle the oxygen emergency, they said CCIs have been tied up with hospitals and also have received oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters (all under medical supervision) from CSR partners and some philanthropic foundations.