New Delhi, Jun 14 (IANS): A meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan with Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal began here on Sunday to discuss the spike in novel coronavirus cases in the national capital, presently pegged at 38,958 cases.

According to the Home Ministry officials, members of the State Disaster Management Authority are also attending the meeting at the Ministry office here.

During the meeting, Shah and Vardhan will take stock of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has so far claimed 1,271 lives in Delhi.

The Home Ministry Office announced these meetings through tweets on Saturday amid a worrying spike in corona infections in the city, where 2,137 new cases were reported in a 24-hour period on Friday evening.

These meetings come in the wake of the Supreme Court's criticism of the "horrendous, horrific and pathetic" situation in the city and said coronavirus patients were being treated "worse than animals".

The court had also asked the government to explain the fall in testing, which had "gone down from 7,000 to 5,000 a day when Chennai and Mumbai have increased...."

On June 10, Shah and Kejriwal had discussed the COVID-19 spike in Delhi, a day after the Chief Minister tested negative for the virus.