Virus cases in the Capital cross 4,000 mark for fifth day in a row

With 4,235 fresh cases on Sunday, COVID-19 tally in Delhi now stands at 2,18,304

The number of fresh COVID-19 cases in the Capital continued to stay above the 4,000 mark for the fifth day in a row, after Sunday’s tally of 4,235 cases.

In the past 24 hours, 29 people died due to the virus while 3,403 people recovered, a heath bulletin from the Delhi government said. It said that the total number of cases in the Capital now stands at 2,18,304 with a total of 4,744 deaths and 1,84,748 recoveries.

The bulletin added that 56,656 tests were conducted during the same period with a positivity rate of 7.48%. The death rate, it said, based on the data compiled in the last 10 days was 0.68%. Of the total tests, 10,116 were RT-PCR tests, while 46,540 were rapid antigen tests.

The Delhi government said that the cumulative positivity rate is now at 10.20% and the fatality rate is 2.17%.

The city now has 1,488 containment zones and 15,946 people are under home isolation. The government’s patient management system shows that out of the 14,377 available hospital beds, 7,874 are vacant. Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that while there were enough ICU beds in State-run and Centre-run hospitals, there was a shortage in the number of ICU beds in private hospitals due to the surge in cases.

He said that the government has passed orders for 28 private hospitals to reserve 80% of their total ICU/HDU beds for COVID-19 patients. These hospitals, he said, are also allowed to temporarily increase their total bed capacity up to 30% to be utilised by COVID-19 patients. There are five private hospitals that are entirely COVID-19 hospitals.

Asked if the Delhi government was planning to enforce another lockdown due to the rise in the number of cases, Mr. Jain said: “The time for enforcing a lockdown has ended. We have gained enough experience through the lockdown and know that wearing masks is an effective way to fight the infection. We are creating awareness about wearing masks and social distancing,” he said.

Delhi’s biggest single-day jump was reported on Saturday when 4,321 fresh cases were recorded. The Capital has seen a spurt in cases but the government has said that the increase is due to the fact that it has increased testing from 15,000-20,000 a day to up to 60,000 a day.

The Minister said that by ramping up testing, even those who do not have symptoms but are infected will be isolated so that they do not spread it. “If you test positive without symptoms, we will be able to isolate you in time and prevent the infection from spreading. The number might be increasing at this point but this will help in containing the virus,” he added.