New Delhi, April 20:
Delhi on Wednesday reported 1,009 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total caseload to 18,70,692, while the positivity rate stood at 5.70 per cent, according to the health department’s bulletin. One patient died during this period, while 314 were discharged. The cumulative count of deaths and recoveries have climbed to 26,161 and 18,41,890 respectively, the cumulative case fatality rate is at 1.4%. The active cases in the national capital have also surged to 2,641, compared to 1,947 on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s tally is 377 more than that of Tuesday’s when the city registered 632 infections. The health bulletin also said 17,701 Covid-19 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, which included 9,581 RT-PCR/CBNAAT/True Nat tests and 8,120 rapid antigen tests. Nearly 1,600 infected patients are in home isolation and 54 are hospitalised.
Authorities have vaccinated 34,056 beneficiaries in the last 24 hours and Delhi’s overall vaccination coverage is nearing 3.30 crore. Of the total doses administered, 5,73,210 beneficiaries have been inoculated with the precautionary dose.
Fresh cases in Delhi have been surging for the last several days, stoking fears of another wave of the pandemic.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led government said on Wednesday that the situation is fully under control.
“The government has arranged an adequate number of hospital beds, medical oxygen and medicines although hospitalisations are very low,” government officials told news agency PTI as they held a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).
As a precautionary measure, the government again made the wearing of masks mandatory in public places and a fine of ₹500 will be charged in case this rule is violated.
Authorities have been ordered to keep a close watch on social gatherings and ramp up testing in Delhi.
It was also decided after the DDMA meeting that offline classes will continue in schools, but the management has to ensure strict adherence to all Covid-19 protocols.
“Schools will not be closed and will continue with offline classes. Schools have been asked to report all cases to the education department and ensure that Covid protocols are followed strictly. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia is constantly monitoring the situation in schools,” another official told PTI on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, doctors said the cases are expected to surge in the coming days. However, they said the current trends are not concerning as most of the cases are mild and due to the Omicron XE variant, PTI further reported.
“The variant has more transmissibility but is causing mild infection. It is causing upper respiratory infection and not alower respiratory infection,”Dr Jugal Kishore, head of community Medicine, Safdurjung hospital, as saying.
The doctors said as the cases rise, there will be some increase in the mortality and hospitalisation rate, but it will not go beyond control.
“People must remain vigilant. There will be an increase in cases but it will not go beyond control,” Dr Abhinav Guliani, a pulmonologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told.
