Delhi orders five-day quarantine for Covid-19 cases

Anyone infected with Covid-19 in the Indian capital Delhi must spend five days in official quarantine, authorities have said.

The new quarantine rule was announced by Delhi’s Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) after a record spike in infections on Friday.

The state government has criticised the move, calling it "arbitrary" and touting the success of its home-quarantine programme. "We have treated thousands of mild and asymptomatic cases at home so far through daily monitoring and counselling," it said.

Health experts have also questioned the decision, saying it will place more strain on overstretched hospitals, where overcrowding may risk new infections.

But the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, said the lack of monitoring of those in home quarantine was proving problematic. Delhi's cases jumped by 3,137 to 53,116 on Friday, the biggest daily increase since the pandemic began.

Our colleague from BBC Gujarati Roxy Gadgekar has described how his own family was devastated by the virus.

(BBC)