Delhi logged nearly double the number of fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Tuesday, according to the bulletin issued by the health department. From 3,797 cases on Monday, Delhi recorded 6,396 infections on Tuesday, taking the infection tally in the national capital to 495,598. While 99 more fatalities pushed the toll to 7,812, the number of active cases of Covid-19 is 42,004, authorities said.
The health department bulletin showed these cases came out of the 49,031 tests conducted the previous day, while the positivity rate stood at 13.04 per cent amid the festive season and rising pollution in the city. The highest single-day spike till date at 8,593 cases was recorded on November 11 when 85 fatalities were also reported. Delhi witnessed a sudden spike in coronavirus disease cases since October 28 when the daily rise breached the 5,000-mark for the first time.
What does the daily increase in cases say?
The spike in everyday cases points that the city is facing a third wave of the infection and the Delhi government has also agreed to the same. Compared to the last two waves, Delhi saw nearly twice the number of cases in the third. In the first 15 days of October, the average number of cases reported daily in Delhi was 2,754. Between October 15 and October 31, this average shot up to 4,104. In the first 12 days of November, this average was 6,693. Over the past three days, there has been an average of around 3,100 new cases per day, but the number of tests has also fallen from around 58,000 per day to around 25,000 per day because of Diwali, Bhai Dooj and the weekend.
What about the positivity rate?
Positivity rate in Delhi has consistently been above 11 per cent for the past two weeks –– crossing 15 per cent on some days. This had fallen to 6 per cent in September.
Why is Delhi witnessing a spike in cases?
Experts were already expecting this increase, keeping in mind the festival season. Even the health ministry has pointed out that the spike could be due to the festive season, the opening of essential services and allowing the movement of people.
What has the Delhi government done?
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has sent a proposal to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal seeking to withdraw the relaxation given for wedding gatherings and restricting the number of guests to 50, from the 200 allowed since November 1. The government has also written to the Centre to allow local lockdowns in markets which may emerge as hotspots. Kejriwal said the government has sought permission from the Centre to modify guidelines to shut markets if necessary.
“We witnessed massive crowds in some of the popular markets of Delhi before Diwali. No social distancing was followed and due to this, the number of Covid cases has surged significantly. In the last order passed by the Centre, it was noted that state government cannot impose any lockdowns without permission. We have requested them to permit us to shut down market places if necessary,” Kejriwal said.
A decision has also been taken to increase house-to-house surveillance of active cases in containment zones and other vulnerable pockets in the national capital and 7,000-8,000 teams will be engaged for this exercise, an increase from the existing 3,000 teams that are currently involved. Elaborating further, NITI Aayog member VK Paul who heads Covid-19 national taskforce said the ICU bed capacity will be increased from 3,523 to over 6,000 in the next few days in hospitals across Delhi.
Meanwhile, the North MCD said it has kept 20 ICU beds for Covid-19 patients at its Hindu Rao Hospital, the biggest municipal hospital in the national capital.
