'Delhi Model' based on collective efforts: CM

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the "Delhi Model" of controlling the pandemic, which has been hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is founded upon principles of "collectivity, teamwork, and togetherness", adding that the first step was to realise that the battle against COVID-19 could never be won alone. The CM, in an

online media briefing, said this "Delhi Model" was the reason the Capital was able to stop Coronavirus numbers from reaching the projections made in early June.

The CM said, "First, we learned that Corona is so huge a pandemic, that no one can fight it alone. We appealed to the Central govt, hotels, private hospitals, banquet halls, NGOs, religious and cultural organizations for support. I also want to thank all the parties, BJP and Congress, for supporting us in this time."

Chief Minister Kejriwal also specifically thanked all critics and members of the opposition who pointed out "laxes in our system" because of which "we took it upon ourselves to correct our mistakes". He said, "Instead of being hostile or aggressive on any agency, be it the people on the social media or the media pointing out our lapses, we took it upon ourselves to correct our mistakes." The CM added that the third aspect of the "Delhi Model" was to not lose hope, saying, "If we would have lost hope and lost the battle, it would have been very difficult for us to sustain."

The Delhi CM also said that his government planned requirements for every sector and field and when they realised that they might not have the resources for all of it, "we went to that agency and pleaded for help". Kejriwal said, "For instance, we wanted to increase testing in Delhi, and we were conducting only 10,000 tests at that point. We asked for help from the Central government, and with its help, rapid antigen testing was started in Delhi for the first time in the country. The Central govt provided us with antigen kits and we started conducting 20,000-25,000 tests all of a sudden."

"But due to the collective efforts of all the governments, including Delhi government, Central government, and the 2 crore people of Delhi, the actual number of cases is half from what we had projected till July 15," the CM said, adding that this would not have been possible without the people,

doctors, nurses and COVID-19 warriors, who have "worked day and night to control the situation without caring for their lives".