New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said while earlier it was believed that the coronavirus will die with the rise in mercury, but even in countries with very high temperature the infection is increasing and this shows that we have to learn to live with COVID-19.

Speaking to the media, Jain said while the cases are increasing, the rate of increase is just five per cent.

"There was a time when we all thought that this pandemic will be over by May 1 due to the summer. But now we have seen that in the Latin American countries also the pandemic is increasing. The temperature of these countries is very high. This shows that we have to learn to live with COVID-19," Jain said.

He also said that in the last two months, in the lockdown, we have learned various lessons from the COVID-19.

"If we wear masks, maintain social distancing and wash hands regularly then people will be 90-95 per cent safer," he said.

Jain said on Thursday, India's growth rate of COVID was five per cent and earlier there was a time when the growth rate was 20 per cent. "I believe that the numbers should be seen in terms of the percentage increase."

He said the new cases in Delhi are coming from the containment zones as well as from outside the containment zones.

"We have received various suggestions from the residents of Delhi and based on those we have sent our suggestions to the central government regarding the relaxation of the lockdown. The key suggestions from the people are that every person should wear a mask in public place and social distancing should be maintained all the time. People have also suggested that public transportation should start for example, buses and metros with limited capacity."

Regarding the malls, he said people have suggested that in the limited capacity of either 25 per cent or 50 per cent the malls of the city should be opened. They have also suggested that the markets should be opened following either odd-even rules or only three days a week.

"The Delhi government believes that there should be a balance between the fight against COVID and economic activities. We are fighting against the COVID-19 with full effort, but now we have to start the economic activities, therefore, the measures should be followed. When the lockdown was imposed at that time we were not prepared to fight this pandemic, but now we are prepared to fight this pandemic."

Regarding the issue of the migrant labourers, Jain said there are two kinds of people.
"One is the migrant labourer of Delhi and the second is the migrant labourer of other states who are passing through Delhi. For the migrants, the government has arranged stay and food across Delhi. Any such person you meet can be sent to the nearby shelter of the Delhi government. We are providing lunch and dinner to nearly 10 lakh poor people every day."

--IANS nks/dpb